Morgan Stanley is sticking by Nvidia during the stock’s rocky ride, saying demand for the company’s products should help the artificial intelligence darling outperform and push past tariff concerns. Analyst Joseph Moore reiterated Nvidia as a top semiconductor pick and kept his overweight rating and $162 price target. That target implies shares can gain roughly 41.7% from Wednesday’s close. The stock jumped 18.7% in the previous session during a historic market rally after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day halt on some levies. “Our view is that the microeconomic impacts for NVIDIA are fairly minimal, particularly because near term demand remains strong and is already being mitigated; the risk is macro deterioration impacting investment financing,” Moore wrote in a Thursday note to clients. “While semis are exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, the challenges imposed by tariffs are still daunting, as there will be taxes at the systems level that impact everyone,” he added. “That said, NVIDIA seems among the more protected companies, and will have minimal direct impact.” According to Moore, Nvidia appears to be a safer bet in the current volatile environment in which companies continue to gauge how they could be impacted by the Trump administration’s baseline 10% tariff rate — which he acknowledged could also increase after the 90 days pause ends. Moore remains bullish on sustained spending on artificial intelligence and said that Nvidia’s “relative supply chain flexibility will help them outperform, even in a higher tariff environment.” One tariff bright spot for Nvidia is that most of the company’s GB200 server builds are in North America already, and that shifting production “should not be that difficult” given that volumes are not that high, Moore said. Another positive for Nvidia, according to the analyst, is that the company’s products made in Mexico remain untaxed under the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). “That’s oddly a disincentive to reshore/do final assembly in the US, and we have seen fluidity around free trade agreements in the last week, so it could change. But for right now, doing final assembly in Mexico should largely mitigate any costs,” he said. There is, in fact, more concern about how Nvidia could be impacted by export controls on multinational customers rather than tariffs, as demand for inference products and Blackwell remains strong, Moore noted. Nvidia shares are up more than 14% this week after Wednesday’s historic surge. However, they remain down nearly 20% for the year. NVDA YTD mountain NVDA year to date Get Your Ticket to Pro LIVE Join us at the New York Stock Exchange! Uncertain markets? Gain an edge with CNBC Pro LIVE , an exclusive, inaugural event at the historic New York Stock Exchange. In today’s dynamic financial landscape, access to expert insights is paramount. As a CNBC Pro subscriber, we invite you to join us for our first exclusive, in-person CNBC Pro LIVE event at the iconic NYSE on Thursday, June 12. Join interactive Pro clinics led by our Pros Carter Worth, Dan Niles, and Dan Ives, with a special edition of Pro Talks with Tom Lee. You’ll also get the opportunity to network with CNBC experts, talent and other Pro subscribers during an exciting cocktail hour on the legendary trading floor. Tickets are limited!
