Nvidia stock closes flat after big earnings beat

Shares of chipmaker Nvidia opened at a record high Thursday morning after the company reported a beat on the top and bottom lines and offered strong guidance for the upcoming quarter.

But shares pared back earlier gains of as much as 8% to effectively close flat at $471.74.

Nvidia reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.70 for the fiscal second quarter, beating a Refinitiv consensus estimate of $2.09. The company also reported quarterly revenue of $13.51 billion, versus a consensus estimate of $11.22 billion.

Analysts also honed in on strong guidance for the upcoming quarter. The company expects around $16 billion of revenue for its fiscal third quarter, up 170% compared with the year-ago period.

JPMorgan’s Harlan Sur increased his price target from $500 to $600 and reiterated an overweight rating on the stock.

“Expectations were high coming into the print and the team managed to deliver results/outlook that were well-above buy side expectations driven by the massive demand pull for its datacenter products,” Sur wrote in a Thursday note to clients.

Nvidia stock opened at a fresh 52-week high, having increased more than 220% year to date. The company has also been sitting comfortably in the $1 trillion market cap club for the last few weeks.

Heightened, AI-driven demand for Nvidia chips has been a boon for the chipmaker, which has historically focused on graphics processing units, or GPUs. As companies across industries move to build out their AI chops, there has never been more demand for Nvidia chips.

The company expects that heightened demand will be sustained through 2024.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed reporting.