Nvidia Analysts Still See Risks After Impressive Investor Day

(Bloomberg) -- Nvidia Corp. was little changed in pre-market trading on as analysts continued to digest the semiconductor company’s Tuesday investor meeting. While management’s commentary, particularly on gaming, was seen as constructive, analysts said Nvidia still has a ways to go before returning to its former records.

Shares closed at their highest level since November on Tuesday, but remain nearly 40 percent below a record from early October.

Here’s what analysts are saying about the meeting:

MKM Partners, Ruben Roy

The updates “continue to highlight the large and growing market opportunities that NVDA expects to address from a longer-term perspective.”

Keeps neutral rating and $170 price target, writing that while MKM remains positive on Nvidia’s longer-term prospects, “we await better visibility into 2H recovery ahead of taking a more constructive stance on shares.”

Jefferies, Mark Lipacis

Left the event “with higher conviction” in its view that computing’s center of gravity “appears to be drifting toward a parallel model, and that with its ecosystem (GPUs, software, vertical domain solutions, developers), NVDA is a primary beneficiary of this shift.”

Affirms buy rating and $185 price target.

Cowen, Matthew Ramsay

Was “impressed” with Nvidia’s “partnership ecosystems and the breadth of its accelerated computing platform across gaming, datacenter, autos and interconnect.”

The ecosystem “remains intact to gradually rebuild the valuation,” but company is “not out of the woods yet.”

Rates outperform, price target $195.

Rosenblatt Securities, Hans Mosesmann

“The commentary regarding gaming in general will help to dispel the notion that the gaming GPU industry has decelerated into a single-digit growth dynamic.”

Sees Advanced Micro Devices gaining market share, but “Nvidia will continue to be the dominant player and innovator.”

RBC Capital Markets, Mitch Steves

The analyst day was “a positive” given Nvidia affirmed its first-quarter and 2020 outlook, and before it saw “continued growth in gamers and Esports viewership.”

Affirms outperform rating.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Vlastelica in New York at rvlastelica1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Steven Fromm, Will Daley

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