Chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) has had a huge 2024.
The stock is up nearly 179% this year. The shares were up 2.4% last week and are up 13.6% just in October.
The Friday close of $138 was just below its peak close of $138.07, set on Oct. 14. The shares are up nearly 40% from their August lows.
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Nvidia’s market capitalization stands at $3.4 trillion, just behind that of Apple’s (AAPL) $3.6 trillion and ahead of Microsoft’s (MSFT) $3.1 trillion.
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No wonder analysts and investors are boosting price targets for the maker of semiconductors and related software that are crucial to the development of artificial intelligence.
A big boost in a price target
On Friday, Chris Gerace, who writes on the Street Pro site, boosted his price target on Nvidia from $155 to $175, a 12.9% increase.
Based on Friday’s close, that would imply Nvidia’s shares could rise nearly 28% over the next 12 months.
If you are a Gerace follower, you would know he signaled the target-price hike on Thursday. Then, he cited “the robust earnings and guidance” from Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) , the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductors.
Because Taiwan Semi’s results were so strong, Gerace promised in that Thursday post that he “would need to revisit our NVDA price target.”
Revisit the target he did, and he pushed it higher.
Gerace conceded his boost wasn’t as big as the 18.2% price-target boost issued by Bank of America Securities. BofA boosted its Nvidia target from $165 to $195.
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Another price-target boost ahead?
But Gerace had his reasons, and that may mean he boosts his Nvidia target again soon.
The big reason, he wrote, is he wants to see if there are any revisions to the capital expenditure plans from four key users:
- Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) or (GOOGL)
- Amazon.com (AMZN)
- Microsoft (MSFT)
- Facebook-parent Meta Platforms (META)
All four have been investing heavily in AI-related applications and equipment and have revised capital expenditure estimates repeatedly this year.
Alphabet reports third-quarter earnings after its Oct. 29 close.
Microsoft and Meta report results after the Oct. 30 market close.
Amazon reports results after its Oct. 31 close. Apple (AAPL) also reports that afternoon.
Taiwan Semi sees great times, too
Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor suggested in its own third-quarter report that its own growth prospects were really strong because all the semiconductor heavyweights want the company to manufacture their chips.
“It’s the world’s best,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said last month.
Taiwan Semiconductor reported revenue of $23.5 billion (USD), up 36% from a year earlier. Gross profit margin was 57.8%. Net profit margin was 42.8%.
Taiwan Semi’s shares are up 15.6% in October and 93% in 2024, and the company has joined the ranks of companies with market capitalizations of $1 trillion or greater.
The others are Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com and Meta Platforms.
The big risk Taiwan may face is if the Peoples Republic of China decides to invade the island nation. China considers Taiwan a part of mainland Chinese. Taiwanese have resisted the idea.
The company is trying now to build a plant in Arizona, but the project has been delayed by numerous construction and staffing problems..
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