Nvidia Corporation shares traded lower during Thursday's session, retreating from the previous day's advance as investors turned cautious ahead of the company's upcoming earnings release. The semiconductor giant's stock declined $1.29, or 0.7%, to $186.69 in early afternoon trading, with approximately 82 million shares changing hands. The stock moved within a range of $185.69 to $188.41 throughout the session.
The modest pullback holds significance because Nvidia has emerged as a key indicator for the broader artificial intelligence investment theme. Market participants are currently evaluating whether the stock's next significant move will be upward or downward, particularly with the company scheduled to report fourth-quarter and fiscal-year 2026 results next Wednesday. This price action demonstrates how rapidly market attention can shift from positive customer announcements to upcoming financial performance metrics.
Semiconductor stocks broadly exhibited weakness across Wall Street on Thursday. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index declined 0.7% as major market indexes also slipped. "It's just an over-reaction," commented Max Wasserman, founder and senior portfolio manager at Miramar Capital, referring to recent volatility affecting artificial intelligence-related equities.
Nvidia's shares had risen 1.6% on Wednesday following the disclosure of a multi-year agreement to supply Meta Platforms with millions of current and future artificial intelligence processors. "They were expensive and they've gotten cheaper," observed Ross Mayfield, an investment strategy analyst at Baird, regarding the recent valuation adjustment among large-capitalization technology companies.
According to an official press release, the expanded partnership with Meta encompasses central processing units, networking technology, and "millions" of Blackwell and Rubin graphics processing units. These GPUs are extensively utilized for training and operating artificial intelligence models. "No one deploys AI at Meta's scale," stated Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted his company is expanding the collaboration to construct computing clusters using Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform.
Nvidia clarified earlier this week that the Meta agreement also includes Grace and Vera central processing units, which compete more directly with server chips manufactured by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Ian Buck, general manager for hyperscale and high-performance computing at Nvidia, indicated that Meta has conducted testing on Vera processors and "the results look very promising."
A Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week revealed Nvidia's quarterly Form 13F holdings report listed five U.S. equity positions as of December 31. These included investments in CoreWeave, Intel, Nokia, Synopsys, and Nebius Group. Form 13F represents a mandatory quarterly disclosure of certain U.S.-listed holdings submitted by large investment management firms.
The company will conduct a conference call on Wednesday, February 25, at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss its financial performance. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will publish written commentary on the results shortly before the call, following the earnings release scheduled for approximately 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time.
The primary risk for optimistic investors remains straightforward: expectations heading into the February 25 report are elevated, and the stock has historically experienced sharp movements when forward guidance fails to meet market projections. A slower-than-anticipated rollout for new products, or any indication that major artificial intelligence customers are reducing expenditures, could exert additional downward pressure on share prices.
For the immediate future, the next definitive catalyst remains the February 25 earnings event. Market attention will focus not only on the headline financial figures but also on Nvidia's business outlook and how management characterizes demand from hyperscale clients like Meta. Updates regarding the pace of Blackwell platform deployments and the timing for Rubin and Vera platform introductions will also be closely monitored by investors and analysts.
