New York, January 16, 2026, 09:26 (EST) — Premarket
- Chip stocks rallied again in premarket action, lifting Nvidia shares higher on a supplier-driven rebound.
- TSMC’s 2026 budget and fresh trade restrictions on AI chips kept demand squarely in the spotlight.
- Investors are eyeing the upcoming milestones: Intel’s earnings next week and Nvidia’s report later in February.
Nvidia shares climbed roughly 2% in premarket action on Friday, reflecting gains seen across the semiconductor sector. As of 9:10 a.m. EST, the stock traded 2.1% higher at $187.05.
TSMC, Nvidia’s main foundry partner, just released a fresh update. The chip giant reported a 35% jump in fourth-quarter profit, hitting a new high. It’s also eyeing nearly 30% revenue growth in 2026, measured in U.S. dollars. Capital expenditure for next year is pegged between $52 billion and $56 billion. “While the likes of Nvidia, Broadcom and AMD fight it out for chip supremacy, TSMC ultimately benefits as the key manufacturer of all their chips,” said Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot. 1
U.S. stocks found footing Thursday, snapping a two-day skid, led by chipmakers bouncing back after TSMC’s earnings. The semiconductor index climbed 1.8%. Shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, and Applied Materials all gained, according to Reuters. 2
The policy noise is ramping up. President Donald Trump slapped a 25% tariff on select high-end AI chips — specifically Nvidia’s H200 and AMD’s MI325X — in a bid, according to the White House, to ramp up U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. Some exemptions apply, including chips brought in for U.S. data centers. 3
China has reentered the spotlight. According to Nikkei Asia, Beijing is drafting rules to limit the number of advanced AI chips that domestic firms can purchase from foreign suppliers like Nvidia. Reuters, however, could not confirm the report independently, and Nvidia declined to comment. 4
In Washington, lawmakers and ex-officials voiced concerns over Trump’s move to let Nvidia sell H200 chips to China with certain conditions, fearing it might chip away at the U.S. lead in AI. Nvidia responded, saying, “America should always want its industry to compete for vetted and approved commercial business, supporting real jobs for real Americans.” 5
On the corporate side, Nvidia is digging deeper into AI data center infrastructure. Chip designer SiFive announced plans to embed Nvidia’s NVLink — a high-speed interconnect connecting processors and accelerators — into its RISC‑V CPU designs. This move will allow customers to link to Nvidia AI chips at speeds comparable to setups built on Intel or Arm tech. “This is a multi-generational commitment from both companies to get to work on this and offer the best NVLink solution, generation after generation after generation,” SiFive CEO Patrick Little told Reuters. 6
The sector set the tone early for U.S. markets. A Reuters report noted chipmakers climbing in premarket trading Friday, boosting the iShares Semiconductor ETF by 2%. Markets will be closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, while earnings season is poised to ramp up next week. 7
Intel is set to release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings on Thursday, Jan. 22, after the market closes. 8
Nvidia’s next key date is its upcoming quarterly earnings release. The company’s investor calendar pins the fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results for Feb. 25. Traders will be watching closely for any changes in data-center demand trends and how management addresses risks related to China and regulatory policy. 9
