Why NVDA Is Retreating Today

Nvidia (NVDA) stock is dropping 1.5% after the chip maker reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results and provided 2025 sales guidance that was also above analysts’ average estimate. Still, the company’s Q1 outlook came in meaningfully below the amount projected by some analysts, and NVDA made cautious comments about its gross margins going forward.

But Morgan Stanley viewed the company’s Q4 results favorably and kept an Overweight rating on the shares.

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The Highlights of NVDA’s Q4 Results and Guidance

NVDA’s Q4 sales surged 78% versus the same period a year earlier to $39.33 billion, versus analysts’ average estimate of $38.16 billion. The company’s earnings per share came in at 89 cents, compared with the mean outlook of 85 cents.

NVDA CFO Colette Kress reported that the revenue from the company’s new chip, Blackwell, came in at $11 billion last quarter, beating the company’s expectations.

On the guidance front, the tech giant expects Q1 sales of $43 billion, plus or minus 2%. Analysts’ average estimate was $42.05 billion, but some analysts expected the number to come in at $48 billion.

Nvidia’s Comments

The company’s revenue from data centers more than doubled year-over-year last quarter, Kress noted.

“Sequential growth in our Data Center revenue was strongest in the U.S….We expect a significant ramp of Blackwell in Q1,” she stated.

However, the CFO also warned that NVDA’s gross margins would be below its previous outlook due to the Blackwell rollout.

Morgan Stanley Remains Bullish on NVDA Stock

Even though Nvidia is still transitioning from its Hopper line of graphic processor units (GPUs) to Blackwell, the chip maker managed to increase its sales by 18% in Q4 versus Q3 and surpass its overall sales guidance by almost $2 billion, Morgan Stanley noted. The investment bank raised its price target on the name to $163 from $152 and kept an Overweight rating on NVDA.

While we acknowledge the potential of NVDA, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. 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.

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