Nvidia profits fail to spark share price rally; UK to join Pacific trade bloc in December – business live

Live coverage as chip company beats analyst expectations but share price falls in after hours trading Nvidia shares were down by 7% early this morning in trading before Wall Street stock markets open, but they have recovered somewhat. Now they are down by only 1.9%. Analysts have had time to digest the results, and some are emphasising the message that the chip designer’s performance was still very impressive – even if it did not blow past the most optimistic estimates as it has done in the past. Hopper demand remains strong and the company noted the Blackwell ramp was a key topic of discussion with expectations of several billion in revenue starting in 4Q – on time despite fears of more significant delays. The delay was fairly well understood already but the company did note a change to the Blackwell GPU mask to improve production yield. Overall, AI spend levels won’t be without a debate but the story is back on track with the Blackwell delay fears now in the rearview and several billion dollars of Blackwell layering onto continued growth in Hopper in the back half. Whilst there is no question that the appetite for the company’s product range remains strong, ahead of the delayed shipments of the latest chip design in Q4, expectations will change little following this release, likely taking a little hot air out of the stock as a result. However, with earnings set to more than double in this fiscal year and the valuation not excessive in light of this growth, there is something for both the stock bulls and the bears to sink their teeth into. Last year, as the Tories presented entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a cornerstone of post-Brexit “global Britain”, the Office for Budget Responsibility said it would add just 0.04% to GDP in the “long run”, which it defined as 15 years of membership. The spending watchdog also said that two separate bilateral deals between Britain and Australia and New Zealand, also hailed as landmark trade agreements following Brexit, “might increase the level of real GDP by a combined 0.1% by 2035”. Continue reading...