Morgan Stanley Reaffirms "Overweight" Rating for NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its “Overweight” rating on NVIDIA and maintained a $300 price target, implying 77.59% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $314.24, although some firms have recently lowered targets.
• NVIDIA’s latest quarterly results beat analyst estimates, with EPS of $2.22 and revenue of $96.22 billion; the company also authorized up to $150 billion in stock repurchases.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $300.00 price target on the computer hardware maker's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 77.59% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on NVIDIA from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on NVIDIA from $315.00 to $285.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded NVIDIA from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $340.00 target price on NVIDIA and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.24.

NVIDIA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVDA opened at $168.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 2.21. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $217.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.42. NVIDIA has a one year low of $164.27 and a one year high of $243.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 4.59.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer hardware maker reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $96.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.27 billion. NVIDIA had a return on equity of 96.04% and a net margin of 63.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 105.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NVIDIA will post 9.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NVIDIA announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 28th that allows the company to buy back $150 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the computer hardware maker to buy up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NVIDIA news, EVP Timothy S. Teter sold 30,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.80, for a total value of $6,786,488.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,687,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $598,810,648. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Colette Kress sold 34,918 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.05, for a total value of $7,648,787.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 765,103 shares in the company, valued at $167,595,812.15. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,766,118 shares of company stock valued at $399,450,353 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of NVIDIA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in NVIDIA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Montgomery Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in NVIDIA during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Langley Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NVIDIA during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Newton One Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of NVIDIA in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new position in shares of NVIDIA in the first quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.27% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting NVIDIA

Here are the key news stories impacting NVIDIA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CoreWeave’s strong quarterly results and rally helped revive confidence that AI infrastructure spending remains robust, lifting NVIDIA and other chip stocks in premarket trading. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts see the sell-off as an opportunity, pointing to NVIDIA’s growth prospects and upcoming earnings; one Seeking Alpha contributor upgraded the stock and said they were buying ahead of the report. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: NVIDIA is scheduled to report earnings on Nov. 17. Results and guidance could help investors judge whether underlying AI demand can offset the current governance and policy concerns. Article
• Negative Sentiment: The main overhang remains reports about Huang’s relationship with a woman suspected by U.S. intelligence of ties to China. NVIDIA’s board has commissioned an independent investigation, while the allegations have brought potential governance, leadership and national-security risks into focus. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports alleging that restricted NVIDIA chips reached Chinese firms have intensified export-control concerns. Any resulting regulatory or political response could constrain sales and add uncertainty; the reported claims have not been independently verified. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution added pressure: Baird cut its rating to Neutral and lowered its price target from $500 to $200, citing risks including slower AI spending and Huang-related uncertainty. Shareholder class-action notices are another potential reputational and legal distraction. Article

NVIDIA Company Profile

NVIDIA Corporation develops graphics processing units (GPUs), accelerated computing platforms and related software. Founded in 1993, the company first became widely known for GPUs used in PC gaming and professional graphics. Its technology now also supports artificial intelligence, scientific computing and other data-intensive applications. NVIDIA's offerings include GeForce products for gaming, data-center GPUs and systems for AI workloads, and networking products that connect computing infrastructure.

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