Why the Nasdaq Is Now Up Big Today (NVDA, DASH, PLTR)

By Rich Duprey Published Apr 2, 5:30PM EDT

24/7 Wall St. Insights:

As President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs loom, the stock market shrugged off worries about the impact with the Nasdaq exchange closing higher today.

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Why the Nasdaq Is Now Up Big Today (NVDA, DASH, PLTR) — © Drew Angerer/ Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Nasdaq exchange had been under pressure in early trading on Wednesday after Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) missed big on first-quarter deliveries came in weaker than expected, but gained strength throughout the day to close up 151 points, or 0.87%.

Tesla subsequently also gained ground, closing 5% higher after a report said CEO Elon Musk would soon leave the Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, the White House clarified that Musk has previously said publicly he will leave DOGE when his work is completed.

Other popular stocks also closed higher on the day, including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), which finished trading strong and end up 0.25% after being in the red most of the day; DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH), which closed 3.7% higher; and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR), which also ended up 3.7%.

Nvidia (NVDA)

AI chipmaker Nvidia got a big boost from an unlikely source today, when The Information reported that Chinese tech companies ByteDance (the owner of TikTok), Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), and Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY) had ordered $16 billion of its H20 accelerators, the most advanced AI server chips still legal to ship to China under U.S. tech export restrictions.

The orders were placed over the first three months of the year and came amid concern the U.S. would ban the export of these chips too.

DoorDash (DASH)

Third-party delivery shop DoorDash jumped today after announcing a new partnership with Domino’s (NYSE:DPZ). U.S. platform users will be able to order pizza through DoorDash beginning in May with Canadian users able to order later this year.

The Domino’s deal is a big win for DoorDash as the pizzeria previously had a partnership with Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) Uber Eats. That agreement ends on May 1. In February, Domino’s COO John Jordan told analysts that Uber accounted for 3% of its $19.1 billion in 2024 sales, or approximately $575 million. Jordan said today that delivery “aggregators” like DoorDash could generate as much as $1 billion in annual sales.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR)

Palantir Technologies was also running higher after analysts said the AI data analytics stock could win a U.S. Army contract worth $100 million in annual recurring revenue. William Blair analyst Louis DiPalma said Palantir would be a partner on the contract with L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) and Anduril for the Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2) program.

PLTR stock has been under pressure in 2025 as concern over defense spending budget cuts that could occur. Palantir has been pushing to expand its exposure to the U.S. commercial market, which is seen as being a bigger, more sustainable market.

About the Author Rich Duprey →

After two decades of patrolling the dark corners of suburbia as a police officer, Rich Duprey hung up his badge and gun to begin writing full time about stocks and investing. For the past 20 years he’s been cruising the markets looking for companies to lock up as long-term holdings in a portfolio while writing extensively on the broad sectors of consumer goods, technology, and industrials. Because his experience isn’t from the typical financial analyst track, Rich is able to break down complex topics into understandable and useful action points for the average investor. His writings have appeared on The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, Yahoo! Finance, and Money Morning. He has been interviewed for both U.S. and international publications, including MarketWatch, Financial Times, Forbes, Fast Company, and USA Today.