Nvidia CEO suggests AI doesn’t look like a bubble

Nvidia on Wednesday stateside reported fiscal third-quarter figures that beat analyst expectations (ironically, nothing unexpected there). It also provided guidance for sales in the current quarter that exceeded estimates (all good still). It was CEO Jensen Huang’s comment, however, that piqued more interest.

“There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told investors on an earnings call. “From our vantage point, we see something very different.”

Of course, this could be the regular sales pitch all CEOs have to do on earnings calls. Which leader is going to publicly put down their business model? Having said that, Huang might be intimating that, because of the insight Nvidia has into the artificial intelligence industry — such as precise sales figures, the relationships and deals still being forged, clients’ plans on utilizing data centers — the sum of the AI industry is more than its parts.

That could be hopeful thinking, but investors certainly cheered his statement and the chipmaker’s results. Shares of Nvidia popped 5% in extended trading, after its post-bell earnings announcement. Prior to that, shares rose 2.85% in regular trading, pushing up major indexes.

Regardless of what the AI industry and trade might look like in the future, from investors’ perspectives, Nvidia’s earnings are clearly something to cheer for today.

The S&P 500 snaps a four-day losing streak. Major benchmarks rose Wednesday stateside as investors appeared to regain their appetite for tech stocks, with Alphabet touching a new high. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was mostly flat, paring earlier losses.

Nvidia’s numbers beat forecasts. Fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue were higher than Wall Street’s estimates, with net income rising 65% year on year to $31.91 billion. Nvidia’s guidance for sales in the current quarter also beat expectations.

The Fed is divided on a December cut. “Many” officials think interest rates do not need to be lowered further for the rest of the year, but “several” assessed a reduction could be “appropriate in December,” according to minutes of their October meeting.

Meta’s chief AI scientist is leaving. Yann LeCun will be creating his own startup, according to a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. LeCun’s company will focus on building a different kind of AI model from those currently used in OpenAI and other companies.

[PRO] The S&P 500 could lose more steam. One analyst told CNBC that chances of the broad-based index losing at least 10% from its latest high may be higher after it slipped below key technical levels

From $1 trillion spending to F-35s, U.S.-Saudi pledges aren’t done deals yet

U.S. President Donald Trump trumpeted Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion investment pledge in the States and the potential sale of American fighter jets to Riyadh, but experts say there are lingering doubts over whether such deals will materialize.

A $1 trillion investment is equal to Saudi Arabia’s annual economic output in 2023 (of $1.07 trillion) and economists questioned whether that level of investment would, or could, materialize any time soon.

— Holly Ellyatt