The Kaipher Editorial Team 
D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria upgraded Nvidia from Neutral to Buy, raising his price target to $210 from $195 as he forecast “overwhelming growth in compute demand” driven by enterprise AI investments. This marks a reversal for Luria, who had cautioned in early 2024 that GPU demand might cool after Nvidia’s rapid expansion. Oracle’s recent multibillion-dollar AI cloud contract with OpenAI underscored the chipmaker’s central role in powering large-scale machine learning and generative AI workloads (Investing.com).
Luria argued that sustained commitments to AI infrastructure—spanning hyperscale data centers, autonomous vehicles, and edge-computing deployments—will underpin Nvidia’s revenue growth through 2026 and potentially beyond. He believes minor quarterly earnings misses will be brushed aside by investors focused on the multiyear AI transformation underway across industries.
Overwhelming AI Compute Demand
Luria pointed to the Oracle–OpenAI agreement as evidence that enterprises are locking in GPU capacity for future AI workloads, signaling robust demand for Nvidia’s data-center products. He expects the company’s full-stack approach, from hardware to software frameworks such as CUDA and TensorRT, to maintain its leadership position and pricing power.
While acknowledging potential headwinds—such as supply constraints and geopolitical risks—Luria emphasized that the magnitude of AI compute investments will dwarf these challenges. He projects that large language models, recommendation systems, and real-time inference applications will drive exponential GPU utilization over the next two years.
Valuation Edge Versus Apple
Trading at approximately 28× fiscal-2026 earnings and forecasted to deliver 40% profit growth, Nvidia offers what Luria calls “the least expensive direct investment in AI growth.” In contrast, Apple—downgraded to Neutral in the same note—trades at a similar multiple but forecasts only 9% earnings growth, making Nvidia the preferred “offense” play in an AI-driven market (Investing.com).
Luria acknowledged Apple’s defensive merits amid macro uncertainty but argued that the transformative impact of AI compute warrants a focus on GPU-centric companies. He noted that Nvidia’s expanding software ecosystem and recurring licensing revenue further enhance its valuation case.
Consensus and Near-Term Headwinds
Luria’s upgrade aligns with the broader Wall Street consensus: 58 of 65 analysts rate Nvidia a Buy, with consensus price targets implying over 20% upside (Morningstar). His own track record—57% success rate and 15.6% average return per rating—adds weight to the bullish call.
Despite these bullish signals, Nvidia shares have slipped more than 8% over the past month following the decision to exclude China-specific H20 chip sales from guidance. However, Luria believes these near-term setbacks will be temporary, as global data center capacity is projected to nearly triple by 2030—with 70% of that growth driven by AI workloads requiring an estimated $5.2 trillion in investment.
