Nvidia’s blowout quarter was a positive signal for stocks, but maybe not at just this moment, some investors say. “We’re bullish on the market, but more in the fourth quarter than the fall,” said Infrastructure Capital Management CEO Jay Hatfield. The investor expects the S & P 500 will close the year up at 5,000, which is roughly 12% above where the index closed Wednesday. He said the broader market will likely ride a final end-of-year push from third-quarter earnings results from Nvidia and others that he expects will only further spark enthusiasm for artificial intelligence stocks. For the time being, however, he expects traders should hold on to their positions. Hatfield said the S & P 500 is currently trading in the middle of his range for his 4,300 to 4,600 target for the fall, and he expects equities will continue to churn through some seasonal weakness. On Thursday, the major averages turned lower during midday trading after a boost from Nvidia earnings results faded . For the month of August, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S & P 500 are down by more than 3%, each. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is lower by roughly 5%. “We wouldn’t necessarily be adding a ton of exposure right this second in time. We think it’s fine to hold things,” Hatfield said. “We happen to be right in the middle of our range, so that would argue for being neutral.” Still, Hatfield said he is incredibly bullish on the prospects for Nvidia, and said he hiked his earnings estimates for fiscal year 2025 to $20 from $12 following its latest blowout results . “It’s really hard to understate how powerful the demand is for Nvidia chips. And we continue to think that NVIDIA stock is undervalued,” he said. Others on Wall Street agreed that Nvidia’s results continue to show that the outlook for tech stocks remains bright . “Nvidia helped us understand that that there’s money to be made in artificial intelligence, they’re the early winner and that likely gives us a signal that it’s okay to get back into risk assets, which hasn’t been the case for most of August,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial. “I think we had a very healthy consolidation during the month of August and Nvidia signals that perhaps you can start thinking about being more risk on,” Hogan added. Meanwhile, Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli said the results delivered a “second blow to bears on Wed” that shows “there’s scrambling underway as underinvested people are forced back into the market.”
