AI chip upgrade sends Nvidia shares to record-high close
Nvidia Corp. shares rose 2.1% Tuesday to close at a record high and notch its 10th consecutive session of gains, matching its longest-ever streak of advances.
An update to its artificial intelligence (AI) processors helped lift shares of the Santa Clara, California-based company, which have climbed 22% during its latest rally, adding about $219 billion in market value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That’s as rivals are scrambling to come up with alternatives to challenge its AI dominance.
The stock of the world’s most valuable chipmaker has rallied more than 240% this year, making it the best-performing component on both the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indexes as the AI-driven frenzy fueled rallies.
The latest surge comes as technology stocks rebound amid hopes that Federal Reserve interest rates have peaked.
Nvidia said its updated chip, called the H200, will get the ability to use high-bandwidth memory, or HBM3e, allowing it to better cope with the large data sets needed for developing and implementing AI.
“NVDA has not refreshed prior datacenter GPUs in the past,” Wolfe Research analyst Chris Caso wrote in a note.
“So this represents further evidence of NVDA accelerating their product cadence in response to AI market growth and performance requirements, which further expands their competitive moat.”
The current version of the Nvidia processor, known as an AI accelerator, is already in high demand.
“The company’s accelerated product-launch pace with H200 in mid-2024 is likely to help defend its turf,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kunjan Sobhani said.
“The new AI processor comes with high-bandwidth memory and could be the top-performing GPU on market, raising the bar for competition.”
Nvidia, which had been under pressure last month as new US rules banned the sale of its cutting-edge AI chips to China, is scheduled to report earnings on Nov. 21.
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