There has been a lot of interesting news coming out of CES 2025 this week, but there was only ever going to be one star of the Las Vegas show: Nvidia (NVDA).
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Shares of NVDA briefly touched a record high on Tuesday after a high-profile speech by CEO Jensen Huang, before abruptly turning lower to notch its worst day in months. So, what happened?
Major NVDA Announcements Failed to Lift Stock
Huang’s keynote was the hottest ticket in Las Vegas as he outlined the next stage of NVDA’s startling growth and predicted a “multitrillion-dollar” opportunity arising from AI humanoid robots.
In the speech, he showcased the company’s latest innovations, including the Cosmos platform, designed to make AI-powered robots and vehicles smarter, a new partnership with Toyota, and advancements in gaming GPUs.
Although it was a highly anticipated event, with massive queues outside the Mandalay Bay convention center, the keynote address failed to ignite the market. Stifel called the announcements on humanoid robots, autonomous factories, and self-driving vehicles “significant but long-tailed.”
By the close, NVDA fell more than 6% to $140.14, making Tuesday its worst day on Wall Street since September 3rd.
Investors Get Quantum of Solace Following Huang’s Comments
However, Huang reserved his most incendiary remarks—at least for some investors—for Wednesday, when he sank a host of quantum computing stocks by saying the technology’s practical use was 20 years away.
“If you said 15 years for very useful quantum computers, that would probably be on the early side,” he said during NVDA’s analyst day. “If you said 30, it’s probably on the late side. But if you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it.”
The remarks sent shares of quantum computing stocks plunging. Rigetti Computing (RGTI) fell 45%, IONQ (IONQ) was down 39%, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) slumped 36%, and Quantum Computing (QUBT) dropped 43%. The Defiance Quantum and AI ETF (QTUM) slipped more than 4% for the day.
The small bit of solace for investors was that these stocks were firming up a bit in after-hours trading before the market shut Thursday in honor of former president Jimmy Carter.
Is NVDA a Buy Right Now?
Overall, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on NVDA stock, based on 37 Buys, three Holds and no Sells. The average NVDA price target of $178.16 implies about 27.2% upside potential from current levels. Shares of NVDA have increased by 163% in the last 12 months.
