Nvidia Stock Slips 0.33% Even as Company Denies China AI Chip Report

New Delhi, Aug 21: Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) slipped on Thursday, closing at $216.85, down $0.71, or 0.33 per cent, on the Nasdaq. The stock, part of the Nasdaq 100 index, saw volume of 9.24 crore shares change hands, trading within its 52-week range of $164.07 to $236.54. Nvidia opened the session higher and held gains through the early morning hours, before turning negative and staying in the red for the remainder of the trading day into the close. The reversal came on a day the company also had to publicly refute a fresh report about its China chip strategy. 

Intraday Trend 

The stock’s intraday chart showed early strength, holding gains through the opening hours before a sharp reversal set in mid-morning. Nvidia dipped into negative territory around 9:30 am, briefly recovering some ground near 11 am, before settling into a narrow band below the flatline through the afternoon session. Trading volume picked up notably in the final hour, coinciding with the stock’s slide toward its lows of the day, before a modest uptick just ahead of the close. 

Nvidia Denies China AI Chip Report 

Nvidia on Thursday denied a report by The Information that it plans to begin shipping a language processing unit tailored for Chinese customers by year-end, according to Reuters. An Nvidia spokesperson said the reporting on the company’s LPU was incorrect, adding that Nvidia currently has no LPU sales in the China market and no China-specific LPU product on its roadmap. The Information had reported, citing two Nvidia employees, that the company planned small-batch shipments of an AI chip designed for Chinese customers by year-end, with several customers having already placed orders. According to that report, the chip was a version of Nvidia’s LPU, a processor developed using technology licensed from startup Groq that works alongside graphics processing units to speed up AI chatbot responses. 

Background On Nvidia’s China Business 

Reuters had reported in March that Nvidia was preparing a China-compatible version of its AI chips as it sought to compete in the fast-growing inference market. The Information’s report said the chip complied with US export-control rules and that Nvidia had modified software to let the LPU work with processors available in China, after its next-generation Vera Rubin AI system became unavailable in that market due to US restrictions. Nvidia’s China business has been in flux in recent months, with Washington approving sales of the company’s H200 AI chips in May to a limited group of Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, though deliveries only recently began. The company has also been marketing its Vera CPU to Chinese customers, even as chief executive Jensen Huang said in May that Nvidia had “largely conceded” China’s AI chip market to Huawei Technologies, its main domestic rival. 

Where The Stock Stands 

At $216.85, Nvidia remains well above the midpoint of its 52-week trading band, having climbed steadily from its yearly low of $164.07 even as Thursday’s session ended in the red. The stock’s 52-week high of $236.54 puts Thursday’s close roughly 8 per cent below that peak, leaving some room before the counter tests its record levels again. Nvidia continues to command outsized investor attention given its central role in the AI computing buildout, a dynamic that makes China-related headlines, whether confirmed or denied, a recurring source of volatility for the stock. 

Outlook 

Thursday’s pullback came even as Nvidia continues to navigate a complex regulatory and competitive landscape in China, one of its largest addressable markets for AI chips. With the stock trading well within its 52-week range, investors will watch whether the denial of The Information’s report, and the broader uncertainty over Nvidia’s China strategy, weighs on sentiment in the sessions ahead, according to Reuters.

Investors who are interested in US stocks can check here: https://hdfcsky.com/global-investing 

Source

• https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/nvda