Chip stocks rise as Nvidia eases China demand concerns

Investing.com -- Shares of semiconductor companies are rising premarket on Thursday after Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) offered an earnings outlook that, while impacted by U.S. export restrictions, was not as dire as some investors feared.

Premarket, chip stocks rallied across the board: Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL) Technology gained 6.3%, Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) rose 4%, ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) climbed 4%, Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) added 3.5%, AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) rose 3.4%, Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) was up 1.8%, and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) increased 1.9%.

Nvidia itself has gained around 6.5%.

The move came after Nvidia reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results as Chinese customers stockpiled its AI chips ahead of new export curbs. 

While the company warned that current-quarter sales would be hit by about $8 billion due to the restrictions, investors had anticipated worse.

Investors were also encouraged by Nvidia’s commentary on robust demand for its next-generation Blackwell chips. CEO Jensen Huang said on the earnings call that the company sees “a line of sight to projects requiring tens of gigawatts of Nvidia AI infrastructure.”

Huang acknowledged that U.S. trade policy continues to weigh on the company’s China business but framed President Trump’s recent move to rescind the “AI diffusion” rule as a positive shift. “President Trump wants America to win,” Huang said.

D.A. Davidson analysts said in a note to clients reacting to the report that Nvidia posted  “better than expected top-line numbers.” However, they acknowledged the “notable impact from the lack of H20 sales into China in Q1 and Q2.”

“It is our belief that the Street is under-accounting Chinese contribution to NVIDIA revenue and that this topic represents the largest overhang on the stock, which will continue until we have an official position from the Trump administration that will give us resolution on the matter in one direction or the other," stated the firm.