CNBC Daily Open: Nvidia beating expectations isn’t enough

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Nvidia: Great is not good enough
Nvidia’s numbers continue to dazzle. The chipmaker beat earnings per share and revenue expectations. Alongside its earnings, Nvidia also announced a $50 billion stock buyback. Still, its shares fell 6.89% in extended trading – the company’s been such a hot commodity that better-than-expected earnings is not good enough for investors.

Choppy stocks
Major US indexes fell Wednesday, dragged down by Nvidia as investors were on edge ahead of its earnings. Super Micro Computer was also a big drag, with its shares plunging 19% after the company said it’d not file its annual report on time, and Hindenburg Research disclosed a short position on it.

Asia chip stocks sink
Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday amid a broad decline in Asian tech and chip-related stocks. The drop was precipitated by investor disappointment with Nvidia’s earnings, which dragged down companies involved in Nvidia’s supply chain. SK Hynix sank around 5.3%, while Samsung Electronics dropped 3.1%.  

The new chip war
Chinese electric vehicles are dominating, comprising up to 60% of the global market, according to the International Energy Agency. Now, Chinese electric car companies are turning to in-house designed auto chips, which will power features like driver-assistance and infotainment, to stand out further and cement their market share.

[PRO] Discount giant, discounted stock
Shares of PDD, the Chinese e-commerce giant, plunged nearly 29% on Monday and continued its descent in subsequent sessions. Analysts weigh in on the reasons behind PDD’s drop – and whether the lower price currently might be a good opportunity for investors to swoop in.

Is it fair to say Nvidia beat expectations, if the chipmaker’s performance over the past year has driven retail investors to always expect that the company will exceed expectations?

For its recently concluded quarter, Nvidia earned $30.04 billion in revenue, higher than the $28.7 billion expected. Even better, it said it anticipates around $32.5 billion in revenue for the current quarter, outstripping the $31.7 billion estimated by analysts.

That boost is because the company expects “to ship several billion dollars in Blackwell revenue,” said Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress. Blackwell is Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence chip.

It’s all good news, right? Why, then, did Nvidia stock fall more than 7% in extended trade?

There was one black cloud: Nvidia’s gross margin in the current quarter dropped to 75.1% from 78.4% compared with the previous period; the company also said it expects full-year gross margins to be in the “mid-70% range.”

That’s perhaps the only figure that came in below consensus expectations. Analysts were looking at 76.4% for full-year margin.

Dipping margins mean income won’t grow as quickly even if revenue explodes. So that’s a legitimate cause for concern.

Nvidia’s earnings came out after the bell, but they had investors on edge and dragged the broader U.S. indexes lower Wednesday.

Investors in general have been worried about the sustainability of Big Tech’s boom. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.12%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39%.

When U.S. trading reopens Thursday, Nvidia’s effects on the broader market will likely be more pronounced. The options market is “implying a +/- 10% move following earnings, higher than its four quarter average of 7%,” John Marshall, who’s on Goldman Sachs’ derivatives research team, said in a note to clients.

When you’re expected to beat expectations, you essentially have two bars to clear. That, perhaps, places unfair pressure on a company and its stock.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.