Here Is How to Play Nvidia Stock After Its Blockbuster AI Deal
Nvidia (NVDA) is the world's dominant artificial intelligence chipmaker, headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Under CEO Jensen Huang, Nvidia designs industry-leading GPUs and full AI-factory infrastructure that power data centers, gaming, robotics, and autonomous systems, commanding the lion's share of the booming AI accelerator market through its Blackwell platform and now-ramping Vera Rubin architecture.
The company's Data Center segment is the primary growth driver, driven by strong demand from hyperscalers, cloud providers, and global AI labs. With expanding partnerships across the AI ecosystem, including recent collaborations with AWS, MediaTek, and Equinix (EQIX), Nvidia remains the central pillar of the global AI infrastructure buildout.
About NVDA Stock
Nvidia stock recently traded around $217.44, pulling back modestly from its 52-week and all-time high of $236.54 set in May, though still up substantially from its 52-week low of $164.07. Shares have consolidated in a tight range following last week's blockbuster earnings report, dipping nearly 2% in a recent session even as several bullish analyst notes and partnership announcements hit the wires.
By comparison, the S&P 500 Information Technology sector index ($SRIT) has climbed roughly 22% year-to-date in 2026, itself a robust showing amid the broader AI boom. Nvidia stock has meaningfully outpaced its own sector, reflecting extraordinary investor conviction in its continued AI dominance and accelerating Data Center revenue growth.
Nvidia Reported Strong Results
Nvidia's fiscal second-quarter 2027 results delivered another blowout beat, with revenue surging 106% year-over-year to $96.2 billion, topping the $92.17 billion analyst consensus by roughly 4.4%. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $2.22, beating the $2.10 estimate and marking Nvidia's 14th consecutive quarter of exceeding its own guidance, extending its historic AI-driven growth streak.
Data Center revenue soared 117% year-over-year to $89.0 billion, representing 92% of total company revenue, as GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins both held steady at 75%. GAAP diluted EPS reached $2.46, up 128% from the prior-year quarter. Huang declared that "AI has reached its inflection point," highlighting accelerating global demand as multiple frontier labs, startups, and physical AI applications scale in parallel across the compute ecosystem.
Management guided third-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue to approximately $108 billion, plus or minus 2%, comfortably above the Street's $104.2 billion estimate and implying continued triple-digit growth momentum. CFO Colette Kress cautioned that gross margin is expected to dip toward 71-72% by the fiscal fourth quarter amid memory-price pressures tied to the broader AI buildout, though Huang reiterated confidence in sustained hyperscaler capital spending and reaffirmed Nvidia's outlook for $3-4 trillion in annual AI infrastructure spending by 2030.
Nvidia Set to Acquire Hugging Face
Nvidia is reportedly closing in on its biggest acquisition yet, announcing it is buying AI platform Hugging Face for approximately $13 billion. A deal valued near $12.9 billion could be finalized as soon as this week, and the terms reportedly include a $1 billion employee retention package to keep Hugging Face's talent in place. While nothing is finalized and terms could still shift, the acquisition would mark Huang's most ambitious move yet to broaden AI adoption and expand Nvidia's customer footprint.
Hugging Face operates a widely used platform where developers share and access AI models, making it a critical hub for open-source AI development, a cause Huang has long championed to keep the industry from consolidating around a handful of players. Nvidia is already an investor in Hugging Face alongside Alphabet, Amazon, Intel, and Salesforce, with the startup last valued at $4.5 billion three years ago.
Analyst Take on Nvidia
Nvidia's reported $14 billion pursuit of Hugging Face underscores Huang's ambition to control key layers of the AI ecosystem, from chips to open-source model distribution, reinforcing the company's expanding competitive moat. Wall Street's conviction remains overwhelming: NVDA holds a consensus "Strong Buy" rating from 50 analysts, with 45 "Strong Buy" and 3 "Moderate Buy" calls dwarfing just 1 "Hold" and 1 "Strong Sell" rating. The average price target of $324.56 implies a substantial 43% upside from current levels, suggesting Wall Street sees Nvidia's aggressive AI expansion strategy as a continued long-term growth catalyst.
On the date of publication, Ruchi Gupta did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.