At times like these, two of the scariest words in the English language are “what’s next?”
Stocks were hit again on March 11 after President Donald Trump said he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%. He then backed off the doubling.
The drop follows the previous session’s selloff, which took a particular toll on tech stocks. AI-chip supernova Nvidia (NVDA) lost 5% on March 10 after Trump declined to rule out the possibility of a recession this year.
Starting March 17 Nvidia is scheduled to host the GTC AI Conference and this year’s theme is “What’s Next in AI Starts here.” CEO Jensen Huang is slated to give the keynote address.
Nvidia’s stock got broadsided in January when Chinese startup DeepSeek claimed it had built, trained and launched an AI-powered Chatbot, the R1, at a fraction of the cost of the systems its U.S. rivals produced.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will deliver the keynote address at the GTC AI Conference. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
PATRICK T. FALLON/Getty Images
Analyst sees Nvidia buying opportunity
The shares lost 17% in a single day, erasing $595 billion in value, and are down nearly 18% year-to-date.
Now, Nvidia’s challengers are seizing a new opportunity to crack its dominance of artificial-intelligence chips after DeepSeek accelerated a shift in AI’s computing requirements, the Financial Times reported.
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DeepSeek’s R1 and other reasoning models consume more computing resources than prior AI systems when a user makes a request, a process called inference.
Demand for AI computing until recently has been focused on training or creating models. Now, inference is expected to become a greater portion of the technology’s needs as demand grows.
This is creating an opportunity for rivals including Google (GOOGL) , Amazon (AMZN) , Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) .
Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers calls Nvidia’s recent share-price decline a buying opportunity.
Over the past five years, Rakers said, Nvidia shares have outperformed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by an average of 7 percentage points, and 2.4 percentage points during the week of GTC and two weeks afterward.
The average returns have been 6.4% and 4.5%, respectively, Rakers said, noting that the shares are trading at roughly a 35% discount to their median earnings multiple over the past three years.
He expects five topics to be discussed at the event, including the introduction of Blackwell Ultra GB300 chips, which are expected to emphasize inferencing.
Nvidia has already pointed to the GB300 commencing around Q3 2025, the analyst said.
Investment firm considers tariff risk
Management commentary recently highlighted confidence in the company’s expected ramp-up amid questions about the shipment delays that occurred during the initial Blackwell GB200 shipping challenges.
Rakers has an overweight rating and $185 price target on the chipmaker.
Related: Analyst has surprising words on Nvidia’s stock after drop
Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes reiterated a buy rating on Nvidia but cut his two-year price target to $170 from $195, Investors Business Daily reported.
Nvidia and other AI stocks have been pressured by “potential tariffs, regulations and bans (and) innovations that make computing cheaper,” Reitzes said.
“As a result, AI semis and hardware stocks are trading like no one knows what’s going on — including shares of Nvidia.”
Huang might be able to calm investors by focusing on AI’s continued potential, the analyst said.
“At this point, we believe Nvidia and several others in the AI semis and hardware space are on sale and good buys right now,” Reitzes said.
“It doesn’t mean that the stocks will work in the very near term since there may not be visibility on key issues regarding regulations and geopolitics, including tariffs,” he added.
Navellier: ‘Surprised if Trump imposes 25% chip tariffs’
Louis Navellier, chairman and founder of Navellier & Associates, said on his podcast that he would be surprised if Trump goes through with his threat to impose a 25% or higher tariff on chips.
“The administration will work with the industry to make sure that nothing is disrupted,” he said.
“There are a lot of rumors that tariffs are going to cause the economy to implode and there’s going to be a black hole, and all the chip stocks are going to go down, and it’s blatantly false,” he said. “It’s clickbait used to manipulate stock prices.”
“I’m really looking forward to that Nvidia conference to shut everybody up, for lack of a better word,” Navellier added.
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