Live Updates: Nasdaq Composite Battles Back Before NVDA Earnings Tonight
Key Points
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Nvidia earnings are a market event, not just earnings as usual.
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The Nasdaq Composite is on the comeback trail with gains.
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GM is bolstering shareholder value with a raised dividend and massive share buyback program.
Live Updates
Nvidia Beats
Nvidia has reported its highly anticipated Q4 results. Here’s a roundup:
- Revenue came in at $39.33 billion, beating estimates of $38.05 billion
- EPS were $0.89 compared with estimates of $0.84
To show just how much of a game changer Nvidia’s GPUs are for AI, Nvidia’s revenue tally over the past two years hovers at $158.14 billion, compared with $153.92 billion over the previous 95 quarters, per Yahoo Finance data. After rising nearly 4% today, Nvidia’s stock has turned lower in after hours trading.
Nvidia wasn’t the only AI name to report quarterly earnings. Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW | SNOW Price Prediction) also published its results, nearly doubling EPS estimates of $0.17 and coming in at $0.30. Snowflake has partnership with Microsoft (Nasdaq; MSFT) through which it harnesses Azure OpenAI technology and delivers the latest AI models. SNOW stock is soaring 9% in after-hours trading today.
The markets reversed earlier gains to finish the day mixed, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 staying positive while the Dow Jones Industrial turned negative. By eking out a small gain, the S&P 500 snapped its four-day losing streak. The Dow was pressured by the likes of Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD).
In today’s markets, Nvidia’s (Nasdaq: NVDA) quarterly earnings are being billed as a market event, not just earnings as usual. The Nasdaq Composite has been under great pressure, including yesterday’s drop of over 1%, but is battling back today for a nearly 1% advance. Today, the major stock market indices are reflecting cautious optimism, buoyed by Nvidia stock’s 3% jump in early trading that is lifting sentiment.
With a lot banking on Nvidia’s performance, let’s check the expectations. Wall Street is looking for Nvidia to report EPS of $0.85 per share, reflecting a 64% increase year-over-year. Revenues are expected to be $38.1 billion, which would be a massive 72% year-over-year increase.
If Nvidia comes through, it would set the bar higher with fresh records over the previous quarter. The markets have a reason to be optimistic, considering Nvidia has managed to surpass consensus estimates on both the top and bottom lines for the past eight quarters. Whether it can keep the trend going will be revealed in a few hours.
Here’s a look at the performance as of morning trading:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up 196.94 (+0.45%)
Nasdaq Composite: Up 203.80 (+1.08%)
S&P 500: Up 45.37 (+0.75%)
Big Tech, Big Spending
As Bloomberg reported, Big Tech has pledged over $1 trillion in U.S. capex spending. In the latest commitment, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has earmarked a whopping $500 billion in U.S. tech spending over four years on AI servers, hiring talent, etc. The stock is down 1.4% as of mid-morning trading.
The Stargate project has committed up to $500 billion to be directed toward powerful AI data centers in Texas. Companies like Softbank, Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) and MGX are taking the lead on Stargate. Not to be outdone, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) boss Andy Jassy suggested that the company is doling out more than any of its peers in AI capex from “top to bottom.” Amazon stock is up about 2% on the day.
Market Movers
General Motors (NYSE: GM) is popping by 7% on news that the company is returning more value to shareholders through a hiked cash dividend and $6 billion share buyback from its balance sheet. The Detroit-based automaker raised its dividend by 25% to $0.15 per share, rising to the standard set by industry competitor Ford (NYSE: F).
Super Micro Computer (Nasdaq: SMCI) met its closely watched filing deadline for 2024 financial results with the SEC, and the stock is soaring 19% in a relief rally.
Gerelyn Terzo is the author of dividend investing handbook "Dividend Investing Strategies: How to Have Your Cake & Eat It Too." A veteran financial journalist, she covers agri-finance for outlets like Global AgInvesting and the broader stock market and personal finance for 24/7 Wall Street. She began at CNBC and later helped launch Fox Business in New York. Gerelyn currently resides in Woodland Park, Colorado and dabbles in nature photography as a hobby.
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