Given its status as the conqueror of the stock market, it’s not as if Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) needs another catalyst. But when things keep going your way, you might as well embrace the good fortune, and with the chip giant about to host its GTC conference between March 18th-21st, the first such ‘live’ event in 5 years, there’s the potential for more investor-pleasing announcements.
As a sign of a CEO now attaining rockstar-like status, while most of the meetings will take place at the San Jose convention center, CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote has been shifted to the lofty environs of the 18,000-seat SAP Center.
Jensen’s vision for the future of AI aside, what else should investors be looking out for at this year’s event? There will be an official announcement of the next gen Data Center product, the B100 (Blackwell 100), anticipated for a 2Q24 release and boasting more than 2x the performance of the H200 and 5-6x the performance of the H100. On a side note, the B200 (intended for utilization with NVDA ARM CPU) is slated for a 2025 release.
Offering further insights, Cantor’s C.J. Muse, a 5-star analyst ranked in the top 2% of Street pros, raises an intriguing question: “What do CSPs do with old A/H100 clusters when they move to B100? We think clearly Inference clusters, so something to watch.”
With training transitioning to inferencing, Muse expects more focus on use cases and why the company sees itself as a winner in this field, too. Muse anticipates 2024-2025 will be “strong years” for inference by cloud participants on A100/H1100/B100, and believes Nvidia will continue to “surprise to the upside with its share of the Inference market.”
Another area of focus will be the software business. While the segment already boasts a $1 billion annual run-rate, over time, there’s the potential for it to grow much bigger. Moving forward, with the goal of building a multi-billion-dollar business, Muse thinks the company will be “most excited” about NVDA AI Enterprise.
That said, more in the here and now, the near-to medium-term looks decidedly upbeat too. “We think the major takeaway from the week will be a clear vision to NVIDIA being sold out through 2024, a clear product cycle supporting another growth year in 2025 (B100 and others), and a vibrant ecosystem ripe to monetize the tremendous opportunities as we approach a tipping point in Generative AI,” the 5-star analyst summed up.
Accordingly, based on that bullish take, Muse rates NVDA shares an Overweight (i.e., Buy), while raising his price target to a Street-high of $1,200, indicating shares have room to move 33% higher from here. (To watch Muse’s track record, click here)
Almost all of Muse’s colleagues are on the same page here. NVDA stock claims a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 39 Buys vs. 2 Holds. However, the $901.36 average target suggests the shares will stay range-bound for the foreseeable future. It will be interesting to see if other analysts follow Muse’s lead and revise their price targets upward. (See Nvidia stock forecast)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
