NEW YORK, Jan 7, 2026, 10:21 ET — Regular session
- Nvidia shares rose 1.8% after CEO Jensen Huang pointed to China demand and said purchase orders would signal approval for H200 chip imports.
- Data-center cooling names stayed under pressure after Nvidia’s CES comments on lower cooling needs.
- Traders are watching export-license timing ahead of Nvidia’s Feb. 25 results.
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA.O) rose 1.8% to $190.55 in morning trade on Wednesday after CEO Jensen Huang said purchase orders — not public announcements — would show when Chinese buyers can bring in the company’s H200, an artificial-intelligence (AI) data-center chip. 1
That matters because China has been a swing factor for the AI chip leader, and investors have been trying to map how much of that demand can actually turn into shipments. The H200 sits behind U.S. export licenses — approvals Washington must grant before the chips can be shipped.
The comments also land in the middle of the CES news cycle in Las Vegas, where chipmakers are racing to pitch faster systems and lower operating costs. For investors, “more efficient” can be good news for margins, but it can also shuffle winners and losers across the supply chain.
Huang told reporters he was not expecting “any press releases or any large declarations” from China on the H200, describing purchase orders as the real proof of approval. Nvidia CFO Colette Kress, speaking earlier in a JPMorgan interview, said the U.S. government was “working feverishly” on license applications, but the company still did not know when approvals would arrive.
Nvidia also used CES to lay out its next “Vera Rubin” platform — a six-chip package that underpins its next generation of AI systems — and said it is already in full production, with a debut expected later this year. Huang said he was looking for a “really giant year” with chipmaker TSMC, which makes most of Nvidia’s processors.
The promise of cooler-running chips has been less kind to parts of the AI infrastructure trade. Trane Technologies (TT.N) was down 1.6% and nVent Electric (NVT.N) slid 2.4%, while Johnson Controls (JCI.N) eased 0.2% and Carrier Global (CARR.N) gained 0.7%; Barclays analysts led by Julian Mitchell said “one should not take their comments lightly” given Nvidia’s weight in the AI ecosystem. Barclays estimated data centers are a low-double-digit share of sales for Johnson Controls and about 10% and 5% for Trane and Carrier, respectively. 2
Rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) fell 1.9% after it showcased new AI chips at CES and previewed its MI500 line, which it said would launch in 2027. AMD has pitched its October deal to supply OpenAI as a foothold against Nvidia’s lead in data-center AI chips. 3
But the China trade has moving parts. Licenses can drag, and customers can pause orders if they think rules will shift again; any hint of softer data-center spending would weigh on a stock priced for rapid growth.
Nvidia’s investor relations calendar lists its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results for Feb. 25, a date likely to sharpen questions on China license timing, supply constraints for Blackwell — its current flagship chip line — and how quickly Rubin systems can roll out. 4
