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Nvidia ( NVDA ) results on Wednesday could be key moment for tech,

AI

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Stocks waffle during week amid shutdown end, rate

uncertainty

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Walmart ( WMT ), Home Depot ( HD ) reports also due in coming week

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Investors brace for release of shutdown-delayed economic

data

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Turbulence in technology

stocks could ratchet higher in the coming week as investors

react to the quarterly report from Nvidia Corp ( NVDA ), the

world's largest company by market value that is at the heart of

Wall Street's artificial intelligence trade.

On Thursday, the benchmark S&P 500 equity index gave

up gains from earlier in the week, as uncertainty about the

economic outlook and path for U.S. interest rates undercut

optimism over the end of the longest-ever U.S. government

shutdown.

Investors remained skittish about vulnerability to technology

shares, which stumbled this month on concerns AI exuberance has

driven up valuations to expensive levels.

With its AI chips, semiconductor giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) has been a

bellwether for the theme that has lifted shares of an array of

tech names as well as other companies involved in the vast

infrastructure expansion to support AI use.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) is the "epicenter" of the build-out of AI, so its

results after the bell on Wednesday will be important to the

tech sector as well as areas such as industrials and utilities,

said Matt Orton, chief market strategist at Raymond James

Investment Management.

"If you don't see the growth that I think the market is

expecting around Nvidia ( NVDA ) or the positive commentary that we are

likely to get from Nvidia ( NVDA ) going forward, I think you're going to

see more of a dent to those sorts of trades," Orton said.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares have soared about 1,000% since the launch of

ChatGPT in November 2022. This includes a year-to-date gain of

nearly 40% that made Nvidia ( NVDA ) the first company to surpass $5

trillion in market value last month.

That market heft means the stock's moves can sway equity

indexes. Nvidia ( NVDA ) carries an 8% weight in the S&P 500 and a

roughly 10% weight in the widely followed Nasdaq 100.

Analysts on average expect the company to post a 53.8%

year-over-year rise in fiscal third quarter earnings per share,

on revenue of $54.8 billion, according to LSEG.

Analysts have also been getting more bullish about the

company's future performance, with expectations for the

company's fiscal 2027 revenue rising 15% since late May to about

$285 billion currently, according to LSEG data.

"The assumptions that the market is making are positive,

it's getting priced into the stock, and how the company guides

will be very important," said Melissa Otto, head of research at

S&P Global Visible Alpha.

Investors will also focus on commentary from Nvidia ( NVDA ) related to

demand or spending trends. Capital expenditures from

hyperscalers such as Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon ( AMZN )

earlier in the reporting season indicated no signs of slowing in

the build-out of data centers and other AI infrastructure.

"You're not supposed to have any weakness given all the

capital spending commitments from various companies," said Jimmy

Chang, chief investment officer of Rockefeller Global Family

Office. "Demand should still be looking pretty solid in the

current environment."

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) report is one of the biggest remaining market catalysts

in 2025. The S&P 500 is logging a roughly 15% year-to-date gain,

but Wall Street is wary of concerns stocks are in an "AI

bubble."

Investors appear to be bringing more scrutiny to AI

investment announcements, said James Ragan, co-CIO and director

of investment management research at D.A. Davidson.

"We're moving into a stage where investors are going to

demand a little bit more proof of concept in terms of what are

the returns, what are the cash flows," Ragan said.

Aside from Nvidia's ( NVDA ) results, quarterly earnings from retailers

are due in the coming week including from Walmart ( WMT ) and

Home Depot ( HD ). There could also be a batch of economic data

releases that were delayed during the shutdown.

While the S&P 500 tech sector has struggled so far this

month, other sectors are logging solid gains in that time,

including healthcare, materials and financials.

"There's a realization that for investors, maybe that AI is

not the only game in town," Ragan said.