What to Expect When Nvidia Reports After the Close

Technology

Published: February 14, 2019 11:30 am

Last Updated: January 31, 2020 12:36 am

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is scheduled to release its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results after the markets close on Thursday. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates calling for $0.91 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.32 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.78 on $2.91 billion in revenue.

Earlier this month, it came to light that Nvidia lost a serious long-time backer. Japan’s SoftBank Group released its year-end earnings, and the nearly $100 billion investment fund disclosed that it sold its entire 4.9% stake in Nvidia. While some investors might be alarmed, SoftBank locked in gains of roughly $3.3 billion on its $700 million investment.

Nvidia shares effectively have been cut in half from its peak in 2018, but that was after exponential gains in the prior two years. Nvidia was right in SoftBank’s wheelhouse, considering its role in graphics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous vehicle systems, servers and so on.

One issue to consider here is that Nvidia’s revenue warning in January was even worse than its prior warning. This sent shareholders scrambling, but so far many of the key long-time holders have stuck with the company for its long-term opportunities.

Excluding Thursday’s move, Nvidia had outperformed the broad markets, with the stock up about 14.5% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock was actually down 33%.

A few analysts weighed in on Nvidia ahead of the report:

Citigroup has a Buy rating with a $200 price target.
Bernstein has a Market Perform rating and a $175 target.
Raymond James has a Buy rating and a $165 price target.
SunTrust Banks has a $187 price target.
MKM Partners rates it as Neutral with a $148 target price.
Mizuho has a Buy rating with a $200 price target.
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $185 price target.
BMO has a Market Perform rating and a $130 price target.
Needham has an Underperform rating with a $225 target.

Shares of Nvidia were last seen up about 0.7% at $153.93, in a 52-week range of $124.46 to $292.76. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $187.72.