Nvidia’s share price has skyrocketed over 200% in 2023 alone, but some analysts believe the AI chip maker still has more gas in the tank for 2024. The meteoric rise has pushed Nvidia near trillion-dollar status, leading some to question how much higher the stock can climb. However, bullish analysts argue shares still look attractively priced given massive growth opportunities in AI computing.
Nvidia has emerged as the dominant player in AI chips, which are seeing surging demand from companies developing new generative AI applications. The company’s deals this year with ServiceNow and Snowflake for its H100 chip underscore how major tech firms are racing to leverage Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) to power natural language systems like ChatGPT.
This voracious appetite for Nvidia’s AI offerings has triggered a wave of earnings upgrades by analysts. Where three months ago Wall Street saw Nvidia earning $10.76 per share this fiscal year, the consensus forecast now stands at $12.29 according to Yahoo Finance data.
Next fiscal year, profits are expected to surge over 67% to $20.50 per share as Nvidia benefits from its pole position in the white-hot AI space. The upgraded outlooks have eased valuation concerns even as Nvidia’s stock price has steadily climbed to nosebleed levels.
Surge Driven by AI Dominance But Valuation Not Overstretched
Nvidia’s trailing P/E ratio now exceeds 65, but analysts note other metrics suggest the stock isn’t overly inflated. For example, Nvidia trades at a PEG ratio of just 0.5 times, indicating potential undervaluation for a hyper-growth company.
Its forward P/E of 24.5 also seems reasonable relative to expected 70%+ earnings growth next year. While far above the market average, analysts argue Nvidia deserves a premium multiple given its AI leadership and firm grasp on the emerging market.
Evercore ISI analyst Matthew Prisco sees a clear path for Nvidia to become the world’s most valuable company, surpassing Apple and Microsoft. But even if that lofty goal isn’t achieved, Prisco notes Nvidia still has ample room for expansion both in revenue and profits for 2024.
Other Catalysts to Drive Growth Despite Stellar Run
Prisco points to Nvidia expanding its customer base beyond AI startups to bigger enterprise players as one growth driver. Increasing production capacity for key AI chips like the H100 is another, which will allow Nvidia to capitalize on the AI boom.
Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy expects the untapped potential in inference AI applications to fuel Nvidia’s next leg higher. This is reminiscent of the machine learning surge that propelled Nvidia’s last massive rally around 2018.
While risks remain like potential profit-taking and Nvidia’s inability to sell advanced AI chips to China, analysts contend the long-term growth story remains solid. Nvidia is firing on all cylinders in perhaps the most disruptive tech space today in AI computing.
With its gaming roots and GPU headstart, Nvidia enjoys a competitive advantage over rivals in the AI chip race. And its platform approach working with developers and marquee customers helps feed an innovation flywheel difficult for challengers to replicate.
Final Thoughts on Nvidia’s Outlook
Nvidia has already achieved meteoric stock gains rarely seen for a mega-cap company. Yet analysts argue its leading position in the AI revolution merits an extended valuation premium despite the triple-digit surge.
Earnings estimates continue marching higher as customers clamor for Nvidia’s AI offerings. While the current P/E is lofty on an absolute basis, growth-adjusted valuations suggest upside remains as Nvidia cements it dominance across AI use cases.
If Nvidia can broaden its customer base, boost production capacity, and capitalize on emerging opportunities like inference AI, shares could continue to charge ahead despite their blistering 2023 rally. With tech titans racing to deploy the next generation of AI, Nvidia looks poised to provide the supercharged semiconductors powering this computing transformation.
