Nvidia stock stuck below $190: can GTC event be a catalyst?

Nvidia stock moved higher early Wednesday as investor concerns about disruptions to the company’s supply chain began to fade.

Nvidia stock rose about 0.5% to $186.25 in early trading after gaining 1.2% in the previous session.

The broader market also edged higher as investors assessed comments from Donald Trump suggesting that the conflict involving Iran could end relatively quickly.

Hopes for easing tensions have also helped calm worries around energy markets and shipping bottlenecks.

If conditions in energy and logistics markets stabilise, investor attention is likely to shift toward Nvidia’s upcoming developer conference.

Focus turns to GTC Developer event

Nvidia’s annual GTC event, scheduled for March 16–19, is expected to showcase several new hardware developments.

The company could introduce new chips designed for inference — the process of generating outputs from artificial intelligence models — as well as additional updates on its broader AI infrastructure roadmap.

UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri said the event may help reinforce confidence in Nvidia’s long-term strategy.

“It is hard to see Nvidia being able to provide thesis-altering commentary that creates a breakout for the stock, but we do see the company providing some more confidence around system scalability, networking leadership, and AI capex durability,” Arcuri wrote in a research note this week.

Arcuri reiterated a Buy rating on Nvidia shares with a price target of $245.

Networking and optics technology in focus

One key area analysts expect Nvidia to highlight is its growing networking business.

Nvidia has emerged as the largest chip-networking supplier by revenue and has forecast that its year-end sales run rate will exceed the combined revenue of competing networking players.

A major topic within the industry is the potential shift toward co-packaged optics — a technology that integrates optical engines directly alongside chips to improve high-speed data transmission.

To strengthen its position in this area, Nvidia recently announced investments of $2 billion each in Coherent and Lumentum, both of which specialise in optical and photonics technologies.

The company has also committed to multibillion-dollar purchase agreements with the two suppliers.

Analysts look for next-generation chip updates

Another potential highlight at the conference could be updates on Nvidia’s next-generation chip platforms.

Truist Securities analyst William Stein said investors will be watching for confirmation that Nvidia’s Vera Rubin architecture will ship in volume during the second half of this year.

Stein also expects Nvidia to provide more details on the chip architecture that will follow Rubin, known internally as Feynman architecture.

“Because GTC is such a well-anticipated event, it’s difficult for it to be a forceful catalyst,” Stein wrote in a research note. “Still, we expect comments around market sizing & growth rates, along with product introductions, to be a modest positive for the stock.”

Stein maintains a Buy rating on Nvidia with a $283 price target.

Strategic investments expand AI ecosystem

Nvidia has also continued to expand its network of investments across the artificial intelligence ecosystem.

The company announced Tuesday that Thinking Machines Lab, a startup led by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, will deploy at least one gigawatt of Nvidia’s Vera Rubin infrastructure.

Nvidia said it has also made a “significant investment” in the startup as part of a multiyear strategic partnership.

Separately, the chipmaker recently invested $2 billion in Nebius Group, another company deploying Nvidia-powered AI infrastructure.

These investments add to a series of strategic bets across the artificial intelligence sector.

Nvidia contributed $30 billion to a $110 billion funding round for OpenAI and previously announced plans to invest up to $10 billion in Anthropic.

The company has also taken stakes in several infrastructure and software firms, including chip design company Synopsys and AI cloud provider CoreWeave.