New York, Jan 28, 2026, 05:30 EST — Premarket.
- NVDA climbed 1.6% in premarket trading, hitting $191.45 after closing at $188.52
- China has cleared the purchase of over 400,000 H200 AI chips destined for ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent, sources reveal
- Traders eye the Fed’s decision alongside megacap earnings to gauge new signals on AI spending
Nvidia shares climbed 1.6% to $191.45 in premarket trading Wednesday after Reuters reported China gave the green light to ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent to purchase over 400,000 of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips—a move investors have awaited for weeks. The approvals came with conditions still being finalized, and a source familiar with the matter said the licenses were restrictive enough that some buyers have yet to turn them into orders.
The key question now is straightforward: will the approval translate into actual shipments or just more paperwork? Nvidia’s sales in China have long served as a political barometer, with traders reading every export adjustment as a sign of demand.
The longer-term issue looks more complicated. Beijing might push imports faster but still pressure buyers to back domestic chipmakers, potentially limiting volumes and dragging out deliveries despite ongoing approvals.
U.S. stocks entered Wednesday riding some momentum. The S&P 500 sealed another record close Tuesday, while the Nasdaq jumped 0.9%, buoyed by major tech players. “The market seems to be hanging in there waiting for a big week of earnings,” said Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth. Reuters
Nvidia’s dominance is now facing pressure from its own clients. On Monday, Microsoft revealed the second generation of its in-house “Maia 200” AI chip and introduced software tools, including the open-source Triton project, designed to challenge CUDA — Nvidia’s programming platform that aids developers in building software for its GPUs. Microsoft said the chip would be deployed this week at a data center in Iowa, with plans for another site in Arizona. Reuters
Nvidia has continued to invest heavily to lock in supply and capacity. The company put $2 billion into CoreWeave, becoming the AI infrastructure provider’s second-largest shareholder. The move extends a partnership aimed at boosting U.S. data center capacity. “Nvidia is the leading and most requested computing platform at every phase of AI … This expanded collaboration underscores the strength of demand we are seeing across our customer base,” said CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator. Reuters
Nvidia has also expanded its reach into software and AI models to keep customers locked into its ecosystem. On Monday, the company rolled out three open-source “Earth-2” AI models designed to speed up weather forecasting while cutting costs, positioning them as a rival to traditional simulation methods. “The tension is gone, because once trained, AI is 1,000 times faster,” said Nvidia climate simulation research director Mike Pritchard. Reuters
But the China story cuts deep. Beijing’s restrictions might cap chip shipments, and any tweaks to U.S. export rules risk disrupting deliveries halfway, just like in past episodes. Premarket liquidity is thin, which can blow up price swings—especially in packed names like Nvidia.
The Federal Reserve’s policy decision comes Wednesday, right before earnings from Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Tesla hit — numbers that might shake up forecasts for AI data-center spending. Nvidia will report its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Feb. 25.
