NVIDIA Corporation is positioned for significant gains as analysts at Citi place the AI chip giant on “positive catalyst watch” for the next 90 days, projecting shares could surge as much as 27% to reach a $175 price target heading into early 2025. The optimism centers around founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s highly anticipated keynote address at CES 2025, scheduled for January 6 at 6:30 p.m., just ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show running January 7-10.
Citi analyst Atif Malik expects the CES event to serve as a major catalyst, with NVIDIA likely announcing increased sales expectations for its Blackwell next-generation AI chip as production ramps up. The firm anticipates management will discuss an “inference led enterprise and robotics industrial demand inflection,” signaling strong growth in AI applications beyond traditional data center workloads.
Key expectations for the CES presentation include updates on Blackwell production scaling, with NVIDIA poised to raise revenue forecasts for its most advanced AI chip architecture. Malik also predicts management will provide guidance that profit margins will bottom during the April quarter before improving, offering investors clarity on near-term financial performance.
The AI robotics sector is expected to feature prominently in Huang’s address, with NVIDIA’s GPU chips playing a central role in warehouse automation, manufacturing applications, and humanoid robot development. Companies including Tesla, Figure.AI, and Boston Dynamics have been racing to develop humanoid robots powered partly by NVIDIA’s technology. At NVIDIA’s GTC conference in March 2024, Huang showcased nine different humanoid robots utilizing the company’s chips, demonstrating the breadth of robotics applications.
Following NVIDIA’s third-quarter earnings release, Citi upgraded its price target from $170 to $175 while maintaining a “Buy” rating. The analyst firm’s bullish stance reflects confidence in NVIDIA’s market position as demand for AI-enabling GPU chips continues accelerating. Shares have already surged 176% year-to-date, driven by insatiable demand for the company’s AI infrastructure products from hyperscalers, enterprises, and emerging AI applications.
Key Quotes
We… open a positive catalyst watch into CES Jan where we expect Blackwell sales expectations to move higher and management to talk about the inference led enterprise and robotics industrial demand inflection
Citi analyst Atif Malik outlined the firm’s bullish expectations for NVIDIA’s CES presentation, highlighting two key themes: increased Blackwell chip sales and the emergence of inference-focused AI applications in enterprise and robotics sectors.
Shares of Nvidia have surged 176% year-to-date amid the frenzy for the company’s AI-enabling GPU chips
This statistic underscores the extraordinary market enthusiasm for NVIDIA’s position as the dominant supplier of AI infrastructure, reflecting investor confidence in sustained demand for GPU chips powering the AI revolution.
Our Take
NVIDIA’s CES 2025 keynote represents more than just a product announcement—it’s a barometer for the entire AI industry’s health and trajectory. The focus on inference workloads is particularly significant, as it indicates AI is transitioning from the expensive training phase to practical deployment, which could dramatically expand the total addressable market. The robotics emphasis suggests NVIDIA is positioning itself beyond cloud AI into edge computing and physical AI applications, potentially opening revenue streams that dwarf current data center sales. However, the 27% upside projection and 176% year-to-date gains raise questions about valuation sustainability. If Huang delivers compelling Blackwell production metrics and concrete robotics partnerships, the rally could continue. But any supply chain concerns or margin pressure could trigger profit-taking. The April quarter margin guidance will be critical for determining whether NVIDIA can maintain its premium valuation amid increasing competition from AMD, custom AI chips, and hyperscaler in-house solutions.
Why This Matters
This development represents a critical inflection point for the AI industry’s hardware infrastructure, as NVIDIA’s Blackwell chip generation could determine the pace of AI advancement across multiple sectors. The anticipated production ramp and increased sales expectations signal that enterprise AI adoption is accelerating beyond initial experimentation into production-scale deployments.
The emphasis on inference workloads and robotics applications marks an important shift in AI’s evolution from training large models to deploying them in real-world applications. This transition could unlock massive new markets in manufacturing, logistics, and automation, potentially transforming entire industries through AI-powered robotics.
For investors and businesses, NVIDIA’s margin guidance and Blackwell production updates will provide crucial insights into AI infrastructure economics and supply chain capabilities. The 176% year-to-date stock surge reflects market recognition that NVIDIA sits at the center of the AI revolution, but the CES event could validate whether this momentum is sustainable or if expectations need recalibration. The outcome will influence capital allocation decisions across the AI ecosystem and shape competitive dynamics among chip manufacturers.
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