NVIDIA (NVDA) Surges as Expanding AI Budgets Fuel New Hope

TLDR

• NVIDIA traded near $211 in premarket activity after gaining strongly during Wednesday’s session.
• The company added about $116 billion in market value, reflecting strong sensitivity to rising AI spending.
• Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $195 billion and $205 billion.
• Google Cloud revenue surged 82% to $24.8 billion, although Alphabet reported negative free cash flow.
• @StockOptionCole identified bullish NVDA targets of $240, $260, and $300.
• AMD strengthened its competitive position through a major MI450 supply agreement with Anthropic.

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NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) faces stronger AI spending alongside rising competition across the global accelerator market. The shares traded near $211 in premarket activity, down 0.5% after Wednesday’s gains. However, expanding budgets continue supporting chip demand while rival platforms seek larger shares of future deployments.

NVIDIA Corporation, NVDA

Alphabet Spending Highlights Market Valuation Gap

NVIDIA added about $116 billion in market value during Wednesday’s session. That gain equaled roughly 7.7 times Alphabet’s reported $15 billion capital expenditure increase. The comparison shows how markets value NVIDIA chip supply differently from major AI infrastructure spending.

Alphabet raised its 2026 spending forecast to between $195 billion and $205 billion. The $200 billion midpoint stands 8.1% above the company’s previous midpoint estimate. CFO Anat Ashkenazi said, “The demand still outpaces that investment.”

Google Cloud revenue climbed 82% to $24.8 billion during the reported period. However, Alphabet posted negative free cash flow of $5.9 billion after heavy infrastructure spending. Its shares then fell about 3% during after-hours trading.

Bullish NVIDIA Targets Emerge Amid AMD Deal

NVIDIA outperformed the SOXX index by 1.8 percentage points and the Nasdaq Composite by 2.9 percentage points. Broadcom recorded the only stronger gain among the listed semiconductor peers. The performance followed renewed demand signals from large technology companies.

@StockOptionCole described NVDA as a sleeper stock with strong momentum potential. The analyst identified price targets of $240, $260, and $300 while highlighting semiconductor leadership. His chart showed NVIDIA recovering near $213 after defending support around the 100-day moving average.

$NVDA Semiconductors are leading the market higher again but don’t forget the sleeper

Many forget how powerful this one can move once it really gets going

We’re still early and it’s not too late to participate in

The market rewards the patience greatly

To 240, 260, 300 see… https://t.co/NoO0nIGFXB pic.twitter.com/fUXH4hTEnC

— Cole (@StockOptionCole) July 22, 2026

AMD also strengthened its position through a major agreement with Anthropic. Anthropic plans to acquire two gigawatts of MI450 systems beginning during the first half of 2027. AMD could invest up to $5 billion as deployment targets are completed.

Capacity Growth Meets Wider Market Competition

Alphabet added another competitive factor by reporting direct TPU chip sales for the first time. Most revenue from those transactions should arrive next year as deployments expand. These sales could give cloud customers another alternative to NVIDIA accelerators.

NVIDIA still operates at a much larger scale across the data-center market. Fiscal first-quarter revenue rose 85% to $81.6 billion, while data-center revenue increased 92% to $75.2 billion. The company projected second-quarter revenue of $91 billion, excluding China data-center compute sales.

Wistron opened a $700 million Fort Worth factory that currently produces NVIDIA GB300 systems. The site also plans to manufacture Vera Rubin models as monthly board output reaches tens of thousands. NVIDIA benefits from rising capacity, while AMD and custom chips continue expanding across new AI budgets.