Tag Archives: NVIDIA Corp

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Despite ban, China nuclear-weapons lab has bought U.S. chips for years

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SINGAPORE — China’s top nuclear-weapons research institute has bought sophisticated U.S. computer chips at least a dozen times in the past two and half years, circumventing decades-old American export restrictions meant to curb such sales.

A Wall Street Journal review of procurement documents found that the state-run China Academy of Engineering Physics has managed to obtain the semiconductors made by U.S. companies such as Intel Corp.
INTC,
-6.41%
and Nvidia Corp.
NVDA,
+2.84%
since 2020 despite its placement on a U.S. export blacklist in 1997.

The chips, which are widely used in data centers and personal computers, were acquired from resellers in China. Some were procured as components for computing systems, with many bought by the institute’s laboratory studying computational fluid dynamics, a broad scientific field that includes the modeling of nuclear explosions.

Such purchases defy longstanding restrictions imposed by the U.S. that aim to prevent the use of any U.S. products for atomic-weapons research by foreign powers. The academy, known as CAEP, was one of the first Chinese institutions put on the U.S. blacklist, known as the entity list, because of its nuclear work.

A Journal review of research papers published by CAEP found that at least 34 over the past decade referenced using American semiconductors in the research. They were used in a range of ways, including analyzing data and generating algorithms. Nuclear experts said that in at least seven of them, the research can have applications to maintaining nuclear stockpiles. CAEP didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The findings underline the challenge facing the Biden administration as it seeks to more aggressively counter the use of American technology by China’s military. In October, the U.S. expanded the scope of export regulations to prevent China from obtaining the most advanced American chips and chip-manufacturing tools that power artificial intelligence and supercomputers, which are increasingly important to modern warfare.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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Business

Dow gains 150 points, heads for winning week as 2023 comeback rally marches on

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A trader works on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, January 26, 2023.

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Stocks rose Friday, and all the major averages headed for a winning week fueled by better-than-expected economic growth and a pop in market-darling Tesla.

The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.56%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last up 135 points, or 0.4%.

Earnings season continued, with Intel slumping more than 8% following a dismal earnings report that missed on the top and bottom lines. Strong guidance boosted American Express 9% despite a top-and bottom-line miss.

All the major averages are positive for the week and month. The Dow and the S&P 500 have gained 1.7% and 2% this week, respectively. The Nasdaq is up 3.2% on the week and is set to notch its best monthly performance since July. The Nasdaq has gained the last four weeks. Tesla rose 3% Friday, building on a 24% weekly gain on the back of an earnings beat.

So far this year, markets have bucked 2022’s selloff trend. The Dow is up 2.8%, while the S&P has gained 6.1%. The Nasdaq has surged more 10.6%

“This year’s stock market rally is impressive and shouldn’t be ignored,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for the Independent Advisor Alliance said in a Thursday note. “Unfortunately, the Fed is likely to start talking down the market again, as early as next week, so prepare for volatility again this year; we may be in the eye of the hurricane and not completely out of the woods yet.”

Investors digested more economic data ahead on next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. The personal consumption expenditures price index, a preferred inflation measurement for the Fed, showed prices rise 4.4% from a year ago, the Commerce Department said. That was in line with the Dow Jones estimate.

It’s some of the last data ahead of the central bank’s next interest-rate decision. Investors are currently expecting a 25 basis point hike.

Stocks are coming off a positive session. Investors cheered a better-than-expected fourth quarter gross domestic product report that stoked hopes that the U.S. economy can experience a soft landing as the central bank hikes rates to tame inflation.

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Business

Energy Transfer is a very good stock

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Nvidia Corp: “Nvidia is a terrific company but it sells at a very high price-to-earnings multiple. … We have pulled back a little bit [for the Charitable Trust].”

Blackstone Minerals Ltd: “I do not know Blackstone Minerals. I am going to have to do some more work on that situation.”

EVgo Inc: “Our biggest fear is, again, losing money, and it does not fit our criteria anymore for what we’re recommending.”

Energy Transfer LP: “ET is actually a very good stock. … Times change and it’s become a better, better stock.”

Medical Properties Trust Inc: “This one, I don’t like that particular part of the real estate investment trusts. I think that they are too high-yielding, which therefore causes me to be concerned that they will not be able to make the distribution.”

Axcelis Technologies Inc: “Some of these companies in this business are doing amazingly well. And you’ve got to hand it to them.”

Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Nvidia.

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Business

Tesla, AMC, Southwest and others

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Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

Tesla (TSLA) – Tesla gained 1.6% in the premarket in a volatile session, following a seven-day losing streak and declines in ten of the past eleven sessions. Baird reduced its price target on Tesla to $252 per share from $316, but continues to rate the stock outperform.

AMC Entertainment (AMC) – AMC Entertainment rose 1.2% in premarket trading after CEO Adam Aron asked the movie theater chain’s board to freeze his salary. He also urged other top AMC executives to do the same.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) – Southwest Airlines fell 1.3% in premarket action as it continues to cancel flights in its struggle to return to a normal schedule. Southwest has canceled thousands of flights over the past week, following a severe winter storm, and is limiting bookings over the next few days.

Nvidia (NVDA), Micron Technology (MU) – These and other semiconductor stocks remain on watch as investors focus on an oversupply of chips. That is in sharp contrast to the global shortage during the pandemic, when demand was surging.

Apple (AAPL) – Apple is marginally higher in the premarket following its Tuesday close, which was the lowest since June 2021. Apple fell during the past three days and in eight of the past nine trading sessions.

Lyft (LYFT) – The ride-hailing company’s stock remains on watch after closing lower than $10 per share for the first time since going public in 2019. It rebounded by 1.1% in premarket trading.

Generac (GNRC) – The power equipment maker’s stock was rated buy in new coverage at Janney Montgomery Scott with a price target of $160, implying a 76% upside from current levels. Generac is the worst performer in the S&P 500 for 2022 with a 74.1% decline.

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Dow falls nearly 500 points after strong data, bearish comments by David Tepper

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U.S. stocks traded lower on Thursday, erasing most of their gains from their biggest rally in three weeks after a round of upbeat economic data and a warning from hedge-fund titan David Tepper that he was “leaning short” against both stocks and bonds on expectations the Federal Reserve and other central banks will continue tightening into 2023.

Positive economic news can be a negative for stocks by underlining expectations that monetary policy makers will remain aggressive in their efforts to quash inflation.

What’s happening
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -1.51%
    fell 472 points, or 1.4%, to 32,903.
  • The S&P 500
    SPX,
    -1.99%
    shed 71 points, or 1.8%, to 3,807.
  • The Nasdaq Composite
    COMP,
    -2.84%
    fell 272 points, or 2.5%, to 10,437.

A day earlier, all three major indexes recorded their best gain in three weeks as the Dow advanced 526.74 points.

What’s driving markets

Investors saw another raft of strong economic data Thursday morning, including a revised reading on third-quarter gross domestic product which showed the U.S. economy expanded more quickly than previously believed. Growth was revised up to 3.2%, up from 2.9% from the previous revision released last month.

See: Economy grew at 3.2% rate in third quarter thanks to strong consumer spending

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in the week before Christmas rose slightly to 216,000, but new filings remained low and signaled the labor market is still quite strong. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast new claims would total 220,000 in the seven days ending Dec 17.

“Jobless claims ticking slightly up but coming in below expectations could be a sign that the Fed’s wish of a slowing labor market will have to wait until 2023. While weekly jobless claims aren’t the best indicator of the overall labor market, they have remained in a robust range these last two months suggesting the labor market remains strong and has withstood the Fed’s tightening, at least for the time being,” said Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office, in emailed comments.

“While weekly jobless claims aren’t the best indicator of the overall labor market, they have remained in a robust range these last two months suggesting the labor market remains strong and has withstood the Fed’s tightening, at least for the time being,” he wrote. “It’s no surprise to see the market take a breather today after yesterday’s rally as investors parse through earnings data, and despite some beats this week, expectations that earnings will remain as resilient in 2023 may be overblown.”

Stocks were feeling pressure after Appaloosa Management’s Tepper shared a cautious outlook for markets based on the expectation that central bankers around the world will continue hiking interest rates.

“I would probably say I’m leaning short on the equity markets right now because the upside-downside doesn’t make sense to me when I have so many people, so many central banks, telling me what they are going to do, what they want to do, what they expect to do,” Tepper said in a CNBC interview.

Key Words: Billionaire investor David Tepper would ‘lean short’ on stock market because central banks are saying ‘what they’re going to do’

A day earlier, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey came in at an eight-month high, which helped stoke a rally in stocks initially spurred by strong earnings from Nike Inc. and FedEx Corp. released Tuesday evening. This optimistic outlook helped stocks clinch their best daily performance in three weeks.

Volumes are starting to dry up as the year winds down, making markets more susceptible to bigger moves. According to Dow Jones Market Data, Wednesday saw the least combined volume on major exchanges since Nov. 29.

Read: Is the stock market open on Monday after Christmas Day?

In other economic data news, the U.S. leading index fell a sharp 1% in November, suggesting that the U.S. economy is heading toward a downturn.

Many market strategists are positioned defensively as they expect stocks could tumble to fresh lows in the new year.

See: Wall Street’s stock-market forecasts for 2022 were off by the widest margin since 2008: Will next year be any different?

Katie Stockton, a technical strategist at Fairlead Strategies, warned clients in a Thursday note that they should brace for more downside ahead.

“We expect the major indices to remain firm next week, helped by oversold conditions, but would brace for more downside in January given the recent downturn,” Stockton said.

Others said the latest data and comments from Tepper have simply refocused investors on the fact that the Fed, European Central Bank and now the Bank of Japan are preparing to continue tightening monetary policy.

“Yesterday was the short covering rally, but the bottom line is the trend is still short and we’re still fighting the Fed,” said Eric Diton, president and managing director of the Wealth Alliance.

Single-stock movers
  • AMC Entertainment Holdings 
    AMC,
    -14.91%
    was down sharply after the movie theater operator announced a $110 million equity capital raise.
  • Tesla Inc. 
    TSLA,
    -8.18%
    shares continued to tumble as the company has been one of the worst performers on the S&P 500 this year.
  • Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. 
    VZ,
    -0.53%
    were down again on Thursday as the company heads for its worst year on record.
  • Shares of CarMax Inc. 
    KMX,
    -6.60%
    tumbled after the used vehicle seller reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that dropped well below expectations.
  • Chipmakers and suppliers of equipment and materials, including Nvidia Corp.
    NVDA,
    -8.60%,
    Advanced Micro Devices 
    AMD,
    -7.17%
    and Applied Materials Inc.
    AMAT,
    -8.54%,
    were lower on Thursday.

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Business

Opinion: This record number in Nvidia earnings is a scary sight

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Nvidia Corp.’s financial results had a bit of a surprise for investors, and not on the good side — product inventories doubled to a record high as the chip company gears up for a questionable holiday season.

Nvidia reported fiscal third-quarter revenue that was slightly better than analysts’ reduced expectations Wednesday, but the numbers weren’t that great. Revenue fell 17% to $5.9 billion, while earnings were cut in half thanks to a $702 million inventory charge, largely relating to slower data-center demand in China.

Gaming revenue in the quarter fell 51% to $1.57 billion. Nvidia said it is working with its retail partners to help move the currently high-channel inventories.

While the company was writing off the inventory for China, its own new product inventory was growing. Nvidia
NVDA,
-4.54%
reported that its overall product inventory nearly doubled to $4.45 billion in the fiscal third quarter, compared with $2.23 billion a year ago and $3.89 billion in the prior quarter. Executives cited its coming product launches, designed around its new Ada and Hopper architectures, when asked about the inventory gains.

In the semiconductor industry, high inventories can make investors nervous, especially after the industry had so many supply constraints in recent years that quickly swung to a glut of chips in 2022. With doubts about demand for gaming cards and consumers’ willingness to spend amid sky-high inflation this holiday season, having all that product on hand just amps up the nerves.

Full earnings coverage: Nvidia profit chopped in half, but tweaked servers to China offset earlier $400 million warning

Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress told MarketWatch in a telephone interview Wednesday that the company’s high level of inventories were commensurate with its high levels of revenue.

“I do believe….it is our highest level of inventory,” she said. “They go hand in hand.” Kress said she was confident in the success of Nvidia’s upcoming product launches.

Nvidia’s revenue reached a peak in the April 2022 quarter with $8.3 billion, and in the past two quarters revenue has slowed, with gaming demand sluggish amid a transition to a new cycle, and a decline in China data-center demand due to COVID-19 lockdowns and U.S. government restrictions.

For its data-center customers, the new architectures promise major advances in computing power and artificial-intelligence features, with Nvidia planning to ship the equivalent of a supercomputer in a box with its new products over the next year. Those types of advanced products weigh on inventory totals even more, Kress said, because of the price of the total package.

“It’s about the complexity of the system we are building, that is what drives the inventory, the pieces of that together,” Kress said.

Bernstein Research analyst Stacy Rasgon believes that products based on Hopper will begin shipping over the next several quarters, “at materially higher price points.” He said in a recent note that he believes Nvidia’s numbers were likely hitting a bottom in this quarter.

“We remain positive on the Hopper ramp into next year, and believe numbers have at this point likely reached close to bottom, with new cycles brewing and an attractive secular story even without China potential,” Rasgon said in an earnings preview note Tuesday.

Read also: Warren Buffett’s chip-stock purchase is a classic example of why you want to be ‘greedy only when others are fearful’

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang reminded investors on a conference call that the company’s inventories are “never zero,” and said everyone is enthusiastic about the upcoming launches. But it doesn’t take too long of a memory to conjure up a time when Nvidia went into a holiday with an inventory backlog that included new architecture and greatly disappointed investors: Four years ago, Huang had to cut his forecast for holiday earnings twice amid a “crypto hangover” with similar dynamics to the current moment

Investors need faith that this holiday season will not be the same, even as demand for some videogame products declines after a pandemic boom just as the market for cryptocurrency — some of which has been mined with Nvidia products — hits a rough patch. Huang said that Nvidia’s RTX 4080 and 4090 graphics cards based on the Ada Lovelace architecture had an “exceptional launch,” and sold out.

Nvidia shares gained more than 2% in after-hours trading Wednesday, suggesting that some are betting that this time will be different. That enthusiasm needs to translate into revenue for Nvidia so that this big gain in inventories does not end up being part of another write-down at some point in the future.

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Business

Cisco, Bath & Body Works, Nvidia and more

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A runner jogs past Cisco Systems headquarters in San Jose, California, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in after-hour trading.

Cisco – Shares jumped 4.8% after the maker of computer networking equipment beat expectations for its first-quarter earnings per share and revenue, according to StreetAccount. Cisco also issued second-quarter and full-year outlooks that showed those same indicators either matching or topping expectations. But Cisco said the non-GAAP gross and operating margins would likely come in below expectations for the second quarter.

Bath & Body Works – The company that remained after L Brands spun off Victoria’s Secret jumped 16.3% after third-quarter results doubled StreetAccount’s per-share earnings estimate, and it also beat on revenue. It issued fourth-quarter per-share earnings expectations that were about in-line with analysts polled by FactSet, while raising full-year guidance.

Nvidia – The maker of high-end graphics processing units gained 2.7% after beating analysts’ revenue expectations, but coming in under per-share earnings estimates. Fourth-quarter guidance showed revenue slightly below analysts’ prediction. Nvidia announced earlier Wednesday a partnership with Microsoft to build an artificial intelligence super computer.

Sonos – The maker of multiroom audio systems added 2.3% after it beat expectations for per-share earnings and revenue in its fourth-quarter earnings. Sonos said it grew its total number of households by 11% in the fiscal year.

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Business

Cramer’s lightning round: I’m sticking with Nvidia

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Nvidia Corp: “I know it’s overvalued right now. … I think a year from now, the stock’s going to be higher, and I’m sticking with Nvidia.”

GoPro Inc: “I said sell that stock. … $95, never looked back.”

Home Depot Inc: “I think that the Fed is directly targeting renovation and building of homes. … But you have to stay the course.”

Lucid Group Inc: “Lucid is losing a huge amount of money. I don’t recommend stocks that are losing money.”

SoFi Technologies Inc: “I’m willing to back [CEO Anthony Noto] right here, right now.”

Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Nvidia.

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Business

The tech tyranny is over. Here are the stocks driving this market

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A worker washes a Caterpillar crawler dozer at Ideal Tractor in West Sacramento, California, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Never have the bulls been more bashful and timid. Never have the bears been so ascendant and so wrong. Oh sure, the bears nailed Meta Platforms (META) and hit Microsoft (MSFT) out of the park. Amazon (AMZN) flopped. So did Alphabet (GOOGL).

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Mobileye pops more than 30% in IPO after spinning out of Intel

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Amnon Shashua, president and chief executive officer of Mobileye Global Inc., and Patrick Gelsinger, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., outside the Nasdaq MarketSite during the company’s IPO in New York, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. 

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Mobileye shares popped more than 30% in their stock market debut on Wednesday after the maker of technology for self-driving cars was spun out of Intel.

In a year that’s seen no significant tech IPOs in the U.S., Mobileye offers investors an opportunity to get in on area of growth. But it’s not a new name for the market.

Mobileye was publicly traded before Intel bought the Israeli company in 2017 for $15.3 billion. At its IPO price of $21, Mobileye was valued at just $17 billion, resulting in minimal gains for Intel thus far. The stock, trading under the ticker MBLY, rose to $27.85 on Wednesday.

Intel will retain control of Mobileye and hold over 750 million shares of Class B stock, which has 10 times the voting power of Class A stock. The company said in an Oct. 18 filing that it expected the offering to be priced between $18 and $20 per share.

The IPO raised $861 million, and the move to list Mobileye on the Nasdaq is part of Intel’s broader strategy to turn around its core semiconductor business, which has lagged behind rivals like AMD and Nvidia in recent years. Intel said it would use some funds from the Mobileye listing to build more chip factories as it embarks on a capital-intensive process to become a foundry for other chipmakers.

However, Mobileye’s market cap is far below Intel’s earlier expectations, the latest sign that tech investors have cooled on IPOs and have readjusted their valuations from the frothy days of the past half-decade as interest rates rise and the economy slows.

Founded in 1999, Mobileye has partnered with Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, GM, and Ford to develop advanced driving and safety features such as driver assist and lane-keeping using the company’s “EyeQ” camera, chips, and software. Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua said in the IPO filing that 50 companies are currently using the company’s technology across 800 vehicle models.

Revenue in the second quarter jumped 41% to $460 million. Net loss narrowed to $7 million from $21 million.

Class A stock is what investors will buy in the IPO, and Intel expected there to be 46.26 million Class A shares outstanding, with the potential for more if the underwriters decide to exercise their option to purchase additional shares.

Intel shares were down slightly on Wednesday and have lost about 47% of their value this year, while the Nasdaq is down 29%.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.

WATCH: Intel plans to cut thousands of jobs amid PC slowdown

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