NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at BNP Paribas Exane

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Exane upgraded NVIDIA to “strong buy,” adding to broadly bullish analyst sentiment. The stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $321.89.
• NVIDIA’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $2.22 versus $2.09 expected and revenue of $96.22 billion, up 105.9% year over year.
• The company authorized a $150 billion share-repurchase program, while institutional investors own 65.27% of the stock; shares were recently trading near their 52-week high despite a 0.8% decline.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at BNP Paribas Exane to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on NVDA. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. HSBC lifted their price objective on NVIDIA from $360.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. KGI Securities upped their target price on shares of NVIDIA from $335.00 to $345.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, China Renaissance raised their target price on shares of NVIDIA from $319.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NVIDIA currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $321.89.

NVIDIA Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NVDA stock opened at $237.36 on Monday. NVIDIA has a fifty-two week low of $164.27 and a fifty-two week high of $243.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $221.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 2.22. 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 released 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. NVIDIA had a net margin of 63.66% and a return on equity of 96.04%. The company had revenue of $96.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 105.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that NVIDIA will post 9.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NVIDIA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 28th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer hardware maker to repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Colette Kress sold 34,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was 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 directly owned 765,103 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $167,595,812.15. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Timothy S. Teter sold 30,460 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.80, for a total transaction of $6,786,488.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,687,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,810,648. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,766,118 shares of company stock worth $399,450,353 in the last quarter. 3.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NVIDIA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVDA. Steph & Co. grew its position in NVIDIA by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 3,574 shares of the computer hardware maker's stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NVIDIA in the third quarter valued at about $3,547,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 0.6% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,884 shares of the computer hardware maker's stock worth $4,541,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 22.1% during the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 5,031 shares of the computer hardware maker's stock worth $1,149,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of NVIDIA by 5.2% during the third quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 250,622 shares of the computer hardware maker's stock worth $57,237,000 after buying an additional 12,386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.27% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting NVIDIA

Here are the key news stories impacting NVIDIA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SpaceX may become a major new customer. SpaceX is reportedly seeking approximately $40 billion in debt financing—potentially including bank loans and investment-grade bonds—to purchase NVIDIA GPUs for its AI infrastructure. The proposed transaction would reinforce demand for NVIDIA’s chips, although the debt-funded nature of the purchase raises questions about customer financing risk. Apollo, banks in talks to finance SpaceX's $40 billion Nvidia GPU purchase
• Positive Sentiment: NVIDIA is expanding beyond data centers into PCs and edge AI. Microsoft unveiled the $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra with an NVIDIA AI chip, while ASUS and other manufacturers began offering RTX Spark-powered systems for local AI workloads. This could broaden NVIDIA’s addressable market and create a new consumer and enterprise revenue stream. Microsoft to sell Surface Laptop Ultra containing Nvidia AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure adoption remains widespread. NVIDIA-backed Lambda is reportedly targeting up to $4 billion in additional funding ahead of a planned IPO, while robotics, sovereign-AI and cloud-computing companies continue announcing deployments using NVIDIA platforms. These developments support the company’s ecosystem and long-term demand outlook. Nvidia-backed Lambda targets $4 billion raise
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains bullish. Morgan Stanley raised its price target, and consensus estimates cited by analysts imply additional upside. NVIDIA’s prior quarterly earnings beat and more-than-doubling revenue growth continue to support the bullish case.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market conditions are mixed. Rising oil prices tied to renewed Strait of Hormuz tensions pressured broader equities, while investors also remained focused on interest rates and Federal Reserve minutes.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and concentration risks are becoming more prominent. NVIDIA is approaching a $6 trillion market capitalization after a powerful rally, increasing the potential for profit-taking. Michael Burry has reportedly shifted to longer-dated put options on NVIDIA, citing the risk of an eventual AI downturn.
• Negative Sentiment: Trade and execution risks could weigh on the shares. Fresh tariff threats and concerns about margin compression, inventory levels and the sustainability of debt-financed AI spending are tempering enthusiasm. Investors may also be reluctant to chase the stock near record highs without evidence that earnings growth can continue to exceed elevated expectations.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is a technology company that designs accelerated computing platforms, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), networking products and related software. Its technologies are used in artificial intelligence, data centers, scientific and technical computing, gaming, professional visualization, automotive systems and robotics.

The company's products include GeForce GPUs and gaming software, data center computing platforms, networking solutions, and enterprise software for AI development and deployment.

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