- Stocks jumped Thursday with investors feeling buoyant after Nvidia's big first-quarter earnings report.
- The chip maker beat revenue and profit estimates and announced a 10-for-1 stock split.
- Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will speak later in the on Thursday.
US stocks moved higher on Thursday, with investors cheering another blowout earnings report from chip giant Nvidia.
The company, whose chips are at the heart of the artificial intelligence boom, beat on both revenue and earnings. It reported $26.04 billion in revenue versus analyst estimates of $24.65 billion, and earnings per share of $6.12, compared to estimates of $5.59.
Nvidia also gave strong guidance for the current quarter, pointing to strong demand for its chips even as customers await the debut of its next big GPU, dubbed Blackwell.
"The biggest piece of filling in this AI puzzle with all the Street and world watching was hearing from the Godfather of AI Jensen and Nvidia that AI demand is accelerating," Wedbush Securities' Dan Ives said Thursday.
He added: "Nvidia and Microsoft are the first derivatives of the AI Revolution, with the second/third/fourth derivatives of AI now starting to form in this market which speaks to our 2024/2025 tech bull thesis playing out."
Nvidia shares rose 7% in early Thursday trading, hitting new records around $1,017 per share.
Also on investors' radars are comments coming later in the day from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic. Several Fed speakers have offered fresh takes on the economy and inflation this week, with most striking a cautious tone on rate cuts, noting that price increases have yet to cool sufficiently to warrant easing monetary policy.
Stocks sank in Wednesday's session after the release of the minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting, which reignited fears among investors that the central bank would stay hawkish. However, some commentators noted that the minutes reflected the Fed's mood before the April inflation report, which contained more encouraging data than previous months.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 5,331.11, up 0.5%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 39,550.38, down 0.3% (121 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 16,969.57, up 1%
Here's what else is happening:
- Apple is a hidden AI play, "The Big Short" investor Steve Eisman says.
- Germany has too many solar panels and it's hurting energy prices.
- A majority of Americans polled incorrectly believe the US economy is in a recession.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.7% to $78.27 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.8% to $82.62 a barrel.
- Gold fell 1% to $2,365 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury was flat at 4.435%.
- Bitcoin dipped 0.5% to $69,271.