Why Nvidia Stock Is the No. 1 Semiconductor and AI Play Right Now

Stocks to buy

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) continues to lead the AI revolution, driving the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to new highs in 2024. With shares doubling this year and the stock posting eye-watering five-year gains, Nvidia stock remains the pinnacle AI stock to own for the long-term.

In Q1 FY25, Nvidia posted a record $26 billion in revenue, up 262% year-over-year. With this top-line surge came even more impressive performance on the bottom line, with Nvidia’s net income surging 629%.

The company’s AI chips are crucial for data centers, and growth also continues to come from high-growth sectors such as gaming, professional visualization, and automotive segments. 

Buying Nvidia stock on previous dips has been a rewarding exercise for long-term investors. Despite recent volatility, Nvidia’s AI dominance suggests that braving downturns could be worthwhile.

A 6.6% drop was less severe than the average for semiconductor stocks and notably better than rival AMD’s 10.2% plunge.

All that said, Nvidia appears well-positioned for sustained returns as AI demand remains strong.

Mistral NeMo 12B

Mistral AI and Nvidia recently released the Mistral NeMo 12B language model, customizable for enterprise chatbots, multilingual tasks, coding, and summarization.

Combining Mistral AI’s data training with Nvidia’s hardware and software, the model offers high performance and efficiency. Guillaume Lample of Mistral AI praised the collaboration, highlighting the model’s accuracy, flexibility, and enterprise-grade support through Nvidia AI Enterprise deployment.

Mistral NeMo was trained on Nvidia DGX Cloud, using Nvidia TensorRT-LLM and NeMo platforms for optimized performance. This collaboration highlights Nvidia’s support for the model-builder ecosystem.

Mistral NeMo, a 12-billion-parameter model, excels in diverse tasks with its 128K context length and FP8 data format, ensuring efficient, accurate performance. Released under Apache 2.0, it supports innovation and broad AI community benefits.

NVDA Stock Could Be Headed to $200

NVDA Stock surged over 500% in three years and nearly 150% in the first half of 2024. With impressive earnings and the upcoming Blackwell architecture launch, the recent stock split to $120 per share could attract more retail investors to this name.

As the year progresses, questions arise about whether Nvidia will maintain its momentum or slow down, possibly hitting $200 per share.

The question is what could lead this stock to such a level. After all, Nvidia’s recent stock surge comes as the company is viewed as a leader among GPU makers for AI tasks and its comprehensive ecosystem of products.

The company’s AI offerings, accessible through major cloud providers, have driven record revenue, reaching $26 billion in the latest quarter – more than double its 2020 annual revenue. This AI boom has fueled significant investor interest.

It’s certainly possible that $200 per share is a level that could be hit in the coming years if AI growth continues as expected, or accelerates. Indeed, I think investors should focus on Nvidia’s sustained AI leadership and earnings growth rather than short-term price targets. Given its strong AI platform and innovation plans, long-term prospects remain positive.

Cautious Optimism for Nvidia Stock

Wall Street analysts have upgraded Nvidia’s price targets, but the stock continues to dip as investors await new catalysts, possibly from August’s earnings report.

Analysts continue to emphasize Nvidia’s robust performance and innovation. Strong data center sales and ongoing demand for AI systems could lead to a very solid Q2 report.

With many maintaining an optimistic outlook, I expect to see any major earnings beat as a bullish signal for this stock over the near-term. We’ll have to see how things play out, but I think it pays to remain cautiously bullish on Nvidia right now.

On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) and positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

Chris MacDonald’s love for investing led him to pursue an MBA in Finance and take on a number of management roles in corporate finance and venture capital over the past 15 years. His experience as a financial analyst in the past, coupled with his fervor for finding undervalued growth opportunities, contribute to his conservative, long-term investing perspective.

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