Morgan Stanley Lowers NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Price Target but Remains Optimistic on AI

We recently compiled a list of the 10 Latest AI News and Ratings on Investors’ Radar. In this article, we are going to take a look at where NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) stands against the other AI stocks.

The rapid advancements in AI are reshaping the competitive landscape, challenging established business models, and redefining the role of computing power in innovation. DeepSeek’s R1 has emerged as a pivotal moment as it shows that cutting-edge AI can be developed with significantly lower costs and resources. This breakthrough not only disrupts traditional AI development strategies but also boosts global competition, especially between China and the U.S. As AI becomes more accessible, its impact extends beyond technology as it influences markets, regulations, and the future of open-source collaboration.

DeepSeek’s R1 Challenges AI’s Traditional Power Structure

In an interview on Bloomberg: The China Show, Jen Zhu Scott, a venture capitalist at IN. Capital described DeepSeek’s R1 as a breakthrough in AI. She highlighted how DeepSeek has shifted AI development away from being dominated by a few large firms by making its research open source. The move has significantly lowered barriers by showing that high computing power isn’t always necessary to advance AI.

Scott explained that while the market initially reacted negatively to U.S. chip stocks, demand for certain chips may still rise as AI applications grow. She acknowledged skepticism about DeepSeek’s low costs but argued that even if expenses were significantly higher, the achievement is still substantial. She addressed speculation about access to advanced chips, dismissed conspiracy theories, and noted that larger firms with more resources haven’t delivered similar breakthroughs.

Scott also critiqued U.S. technology restrictions and argued that they pushed Chinese companies toward greater efficiency and accelerated innovation. She pointed out that DeepSeek is not an isolated case, as several Chinese startups are advancing AI, which is increasing competition among domestic firms. This shift may lead to more open-source and affordable AI solutions, which benefit the broader global market, although U.S. investors may face short-term challenges.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by reviewing news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Brad Gerstner on Nvidia (NVDA) After DeepSeek: ‘I Don’t Think Anything Changed’

A close-up of a colorful high-end graphics card being plugged in to a gaming computer.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 193

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) develops AI platforms for data centers, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and cloud computing.

On January 28, Morgan Stanley lowered its price target for Nvidia to $152 from $166, maintaining an Overweight rating. The firm noted that DeepSeek’s release could introduce cost-reducing innovations in AI, which may impact Nvidia. While the market’s reaction to DeepSeek was unexpected, the firm believes it could lead to tighter export controls or lower investment enthusiasm, which prompted the price target adjustments for semiconductor companies tied to AI, yet Morgan Stanley remains optimistic about the sector.

Overall NVDA ranks 2nd on our list of the AI stocks on investors’ radar. While we acknowledge the potential of NVDA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVDA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.