NVDA Fallout Pressures Tech Trade As Investors Turn To Cerebras, Applied Materials For Chip Demand Cues

Even as the Nvidia saga grips the market, investors are watching key earnings.

• Analysts expect Cerebras’ sales to rise 28% and Applied Materials’ revenue to increase 51%.
• Nvidia shares fell sharply in Wednesday’s overnight trading after new details emerged with respect to his illicit affairs, triggering a mixed reaction in chip stocks.
• Retail sentiment for CBRS shifted to ‘bearish’ from ‘extremely bearish.’ The sentiment for APLD dropped to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral.’

Reports of a second alleged affair by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, along with speculation that the board may oust him, weighed on major AI and tech stocks Wednesday evening, ahead of quarterly results from Cerebras (CRBS) and Applied Materials (AMAT) that could offer clues about the chip sector. 

Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 declined 0.8%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.4%. Nvidia shares fell more than 7%, while semiconductor stocks were mixed: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) rose, while Intel (INTC) slipped.

South Korea’s Kospi, which is dominated by Nvidia suppliers Samsung and SK Hynix, fell 0.35% on Thursday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.03%.

Nvidia Fallout Deepens

The New York Times reported that Huang had an affair with the company’s vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell, besides his affair with suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang. Nvidia shares have declined sharply since Huang’s admission to the affair with Alice, and a company board meeting is reportedly underway on Wednesday to decide the future course. 

Commentators believe Nvidia might weather the storm but with great difficulty, with high chances of Huang getting booted out as CEO.

Even as the saga grips the market, investors are keeping a tab on key earnings. Emerging Nvidia challenger Cerebras and chip-making equipment maker Applied Materials will report their results after market close on Thursday. Both stocks fell in overnight trading ahead of Thursday’s session.

Expectations From Cerebras, Applied Materials Results

Analysts expect Cerebras’ third-quarter revenue to rise 28% to $274.9 million and an adjusted loss of $0.23 per share, per Koyfin. 

Cerebras, known for its giant AI chips, has been a mixed bag since its initial public offering. The company made a strong debut, buoyed by optimism around its proprietary wafer technology, but the stock fell soon after its listing. CBRS shares are 45% below the price they opened at on their May 14 debut.

Applied Materials’ performance will also be seen as a proxy for chip demand. Analysts expect the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter sales to rise 51% to $10.30 billion and adjusted profit to increase 87% to $4.05 per share.

Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on CBRS stock to $178 from $279 but kept an ‘Overweight’ rating. B. Riley lowered its target on AMAT to $475 from $700, while keeping its ‘Buy’ rating.

Retail View On CBRS, AMAT

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for CBRS shifted to ‘bearish’ from ‘extremely bearish.’ The sentiment for AMAT increased to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish,’ while the reading for NVDA was ‘extremely bullish.’

“$CBRS All CBRS has to say during the first statement in the earnings is ‘Our CEO has no affair’ and stock will go back to $200+,” joked a trader.

Another wrote: “$CBRS the NVDA scandal is a positive for Cerebras. ARK fund has been buying everyday from 89. Looking for more reliance on Cerebras Systems software and chips since NVDA is getting clobbered.”

Year to date, AMAT stock is up 52%.

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