New York, Feb 27, 2026, 06:44 ET — Premarket
- Nvidia shares edged up in premarket trading, following Thursday’s 5.5% drop.
- The chipmaker projected quarterly revenue at $78 billion, but investors zeroed in on questions around AI spending returns and mounting competition.
- Eyes are on U.S. producer price numbers due at 8:30 a.m. ET, with Nvidia’s March GTC event also flagged as a possible catalyst.
Nvidia bounced back about 0.4% in Friday’s premarket after a steep 5.5% drop the day before rattled chip stocks across the board. Shares hovered near $184.89, putting its market cap at approximately $4.5 trillion.
Nvidia’s results are under the microscope these days, serving as something of a litmus test for the momentum behind Big Tech’s AI bets — and whether the market’s run-up has already priced in the frenzy. After the numbers dropped, Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, described them as “a good beat and raise,” adding, “a lot was baked in to the cake.” Reuters
The latest report prompted investors to circle back to a persistent dilemma: How much of its cash will Nvidia hand back, and how much will stay earmarked for AI expansion? “Nvidia once again exceeded expectations but the competitive picture is shifting,” said Jacob Bourne, analyst at eMarketer, who noted that some customers are shifting spend to rivals and beefing up their own chip efforts. Reuters
Nvidia’s fourth-quarter revenue soared 73% year over year, reaching $68.1 billion, and data center revenue came in at $62.3 billion. The company put its first-quarter outlook at approximately $78.0 billion, give or take 2%, but noted the forecast excludes any data center compute sales from China. “Computing demand is growing exponentially,” CEO Jensen Huang said in the statement, as Nvidia highlighted fresh offerings like Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin. NVIDIA Newsroom
Nvidia shares initially surged around 4% in after-hours trading after the results, but by Thursday, the mood had flipped—shares slid 5.5%. The Nasdaq ended down roughly 1.3%, and the Philadelphia semiconductor index gave up about 3%, with Nvidia’s drop erasing close to $260 billion in market value.
Some traders say the selloff has taken some heat out of Nvidia’s valuation. According to Bloomberg, the stock now trades at roughly 22 times projected earnings—a step down from its five-year average.
Even so, the AI-linked names — whether chipmakers or their clients — have seen choppy action. “It seems the Street simply wanted more,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore wrote, after investors hesitated to push the stock higher following another robust quarter. Reuters
Plenty is looming in the days ahead besides Nvidia. The monthly U.S. jobs data lands Friday, March 6, and Broadcom is still in the lineup of major chipmakers yet to release earnings as reporting season winds down, Reuters noted. “There is very little definitive right now,” said Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group, commenting on the lack of clarity over winners and losers as AI continues to ripple through the economy. Reuters
Nvidia’s stock isn’t priced with much margin for error. A slowdown in data center spending by hyperscalers — those huge cloud operators — or a pivot to using more of their own chips, could dent expectations fast. The shares have already ridden years of heavy gains, making Nvidia a linchpin for index moves.
Traders set their sights on the U.S. Producer Price Index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, sifting for any hints on inflation or interest rates. Nvidia’s GTC conference, running March 16–19 in San Jose, is also on the radar, with markets watching closely for updates on demand and new product announcements.
