Nvidia CEO Faces Sky-High Investor Expectations at AI Conference

Nvidia Corp.’s annual artificial intelligence conference is just days away and expectations are high for the semiconductor maker to deliver news that will sustain the blistering rally in its stock.

“Nvidia GTC,” the company’s graphics processing unit technology event, has quickly become a global AI conference for developers. It runs from March 18-21 in San Jose, California, with Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang due to speak on the opening day. His comments may help Nvidia stock end a bout of volatility and resume its surge of more than 80% this year.

“It’s a huge catalyst because they’ll probably give more information, not only on industry penetration,” said Ted Mortonson, technology desk sector strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co. He compared the gathering to Apple Inc.’s yearly product launch.

Huang typically kicks off the event with an introduction of new products and an outline of his latest vision for where technology is headed. He’ll be under pressure to show off innovations that can replicate the wild success of the H100 chips for data centers and cement Nvidia’s leading position in this lucrative market.

This year’s appearance carries more weight after Nvidia’s 2024 gains alone added $1 trillion in market value for the company, catapulting it into a position as the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 Index. It’s been a bumpy ride for investors since the March 7 record close: on Tuesday, the shares snapped the worst two-day drop in five months, only to slide again on Wednesday.

Some of that volatility is likely due to traders positioning ahead of next week’s event. Options data show that investors are paying an increasing premium for calls to profit from a rise in prices as the meeting approaches, especially for short-term contracts.

Nvidia Volatility Has Picked Up In Recent Weeks