NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) stock ended Thursday’s session higher and stayed relatively steady in extended trading, as investors digested a cooler-than-expected inflation report, a renewed burst of optimism around AI infrastructure demand, and a fresh wave of headlines ranging from analyst target hikes to competitive positioning. [1]
As of 4:29 p.m. ET (21:29 UTC)—shortly after the closing bell—NVDA last traded around $174.14, up roughly 1.79% versus the prior close, with heavy volume during the regular session.
Below is what matters most tonight (Dec. 18) and what to watch before the market opens Friday (Dec. 19, 2025).
NVDA after-hours check: where NVIDIA stock stands right now
- Last trade after the bell: about $174.14 (shortly after the close)
- Day’s move: about +1.8% [2]
- Intraday range: roughly $171.88 to $176.08
- 52-week range context: NVDA is about 13.6% below its 52-week high ($201.50) and about 30.9% above its 52-week low ($133.07)
- Market cap: roughly $4.3 trillion (data providers vary slightly) [3]
This “steady after-hours” tone matters because it suggests today’s rally wasn’t purely a late-day squeeze—investors largely held positions into the evening while scanning for the next catalyst.
Why NVIDIA stock rose today: CPI cooled, yields dipped, and the “AI trade” found its footing
The dominant macro driver was U.S. inflation data that came in softer than many expected. November CPI was reported at 2.7% year-over-year, with core CPI also cooler than forecasts—helping push Treasury yields lower and lifting growth/tech stocks. [4]
That shift in rates matters for NVDA because mega-cap AI beneficiaries tend to be highly sensitive to yield moves. With the Nasdaq up around 1.4% in the same session, NVIDIA was among the large-cap tech names participating in the rebound. [5]
Just as important for the AI narrative: Micron’s strong earnings and outlook reinforced the idea that demand for AI servers—and the components that feed them—is still accelerating. Barron’s linked NVDA’s move to Micron’s results and commentary on high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a critical input for cutting-edge AI systems. [6]
The key NVIDIA headlines investors digested today
1) A major new price-target boost: Tigress lifts NVDA to $350
One of the most eye-catching items today was a bullish target hike from Tigress Financial Partners. Tigress raised its NVDA price target to $350 and reiterated a Strong Buy stance, framing Nvidia as a premier AI infrastructure play.
Tigress also pointed to a wide dispersion in analyst targets—reported as roughly $140 to $352—which underscores how polarized forward assumptions can be (especially around margins, competition, and the durability of AI capex).
What it means into Friday: bullish target moves can support sentiment, but they can also raise the bar—any sign of demand normalization, supply constraints, or competitive share loss can lead to sharper reactions when expectations are stretched.
2) AI infrastructure demand signals strengthened
Beyond Micron, today’s coverage emphasized that AI infrastructure spending hasn’t vanished—investors simply appear more selective about what’s “real demand” versus hype. Barron’s highlighted improving confidence across the AI complex after recent jitters, helping stabilize names tied to data-center buildouts. [7]
3) U.S. Department of Energy “Genesis Mission” includes Nvidia
Reuters reported late Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy signed agreements with 24 organizations, including Nvidia, as part of an AI-driven research initiative aimed at accelerating scientific discovery and strengthening U.S. energy/security capabilities. [8]
Why it matters: this isn’t an immediate revenue event the way a hyperscaler order might be, but it reinforces Nvidia’s positioning as a “default” partner in national-scale AI programs—supportive for long-run narrative and ecosystem moat.
4) Corporate/legal overhang: trade-secret case settled
Reuters also reported that Nvidia settled a U.S. trade-secret lawsuit tied to automotive supplier Valeo and allegations involving driving-assistance technology. Details of the settlement weren’t disclosed in the report. [9]
Market impact: legal items like this often matter less day-to-day unless damages are material—but removing uncertainty can reduce headline risk.
5) Insider headline: long-time director sells stock
Another Reuters item that investors weighed: Nvidia director Harvey Jones sold about $44 million worth of shares (sold on Dec. 15 at an average price around $177.33, per the filing cited by Reuters) while still retaining a large stake through a trust. [10]
How traders typically interpret it: insider sales are common for diversification/tax planning, but they can become sentiment catalysts when they hit the tape near periods of volatility.
6) Competition watch: Google and Meta aim at Nvidia’s software moat
One of the more strategically important stories in circulation is Reuters’ report that Google is working on “TorchTPU,” an effort aimed at making its TPU chips more developer-friendly for PyTorch users—part of a broader push to reduce reliance on Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem. Reuters reported Meta is involved given its close association with PyTorch. [11]
Why it matters: investors often view CUDA and Nvidia’s software ecosystem as a major competitive barrier. Any credible push to lower switching costs is watched closely—even if it’s a multi-quarter (or multi-year) story.
7) Israel data-center/campus chatter grows louder
Israeli business press reported Nvidia is in advanced talks connected to what could become a major server-farm/data-center initiative in Israel, describing it as potentially the largest of its kind locally.
What to do with this tonight: treat it as “developing” until Nvidia confirms details, but it fits the broader theme of Nvidia-aligned infrastructure expanding globally.
Forecasts & analyst outlook: consensus stays bullish, but dispersion is wide
Even with debates about competition, AI capex cycles, and valuation, the Street’s aggregate posture remains constructive. A MarketScreener consensus snapshot shows a “Buy”-leaning stance from a large analyst group and an average target around the low-to-mid $250s, implying mid‑40% upside from recent levels (depending on the reference price).
At the same time, the target range highlighted today (roughly $140 to $352 in one data view) illustrates the core NVDA debate:
- Bull case: AI infrastructure spend remains durable; Nvidia maintains pricing power and platform dominance; new markets (enterprise, sovereign AI, verticals) expand the TAM. [12]
- Bear case: competition lowers switching costs; customers optimize spend; margins compress; regulatory/export constraints remain a recurring uncertainty. [13]
Technical setup into Friday: levels traders may watch
Technical signals published late Thursday showed a mixed-to-defensive tilt on a daily horizon, with NVDA’s RSI around the mid‑40s and several moving-average signals skewing bearish in that specific model—despite today’s bounce. [14]
Commonly watched reference levels from that same technical readout put a pivot near $174.24, with nearby support/resistance bands clustered tightly around the mid‑$170s—exactly where the stock is hovering tonight. [15]
Practical takeaway for Friday: when price sits on top of dense technical levels, headlines and macro tape can matter more than “pure charting,” and volatility can spike quickly if the stock breaks away from that cluster.
What to know before the market opens tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 19, 2025)
1) Tomorrow is “triple witching” — volatility risk is real
Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 is one of the year’s quarterly “triple witching” expirations (stock options, index options, and index futures expiring). These sessions often bring heavier volume and sharper intraday swings, particularly in mega-cap, options-heavy names like NVDA. [16]
Why this matters pre-open: even if NVDA is calm overnight, positioning and hedging flows can amplify moves after the open—sometimes in ways that don’t map neatly to fundamental news.
2) Economic calendar: no major 8:30 a.m. ET release, but 10:00 a.m. data can move rates
According to the New York Fed’s calendar for December 2025, Friday includes Michigan Consumer Sentiment (final) at 10:00 a.m. ET and Existing Home Sales at 10:00 a.m. ET, plus the NY Fed Staff Nowcast later in the morning. [17]
Even though those prints hit after the bell, they can influence bond yields and the Nasdaq—then feed back into NVDA.
3) Watch index futures reactions to after-hours earnings (FedEx, Nike)
Two major bellwethers reported after the close Thursday:
- FedEx posted higher quarterly results, lifted the low end of its full-year profit outlook, and its shares rose in after-hours trading. [18]
- Nike beat on quarterly revenue expectations but fell in after-hours trading amid margin and tariff-related concerns noted in coverage. [19]
Neither is a direct Nvidia read-through, but both can influence broad risk sentiment and futures—important for NVDA at the open.
4) The “AI trade” narrative is back — but still fragile
Today’s rebound was helped by inflation relief and supply-chain demand signals (Micron/HBM). [20]
But investors are still balancing that optimism against:
- competitive efforts that could reduce software lock-in over time, [21]
- headline-driven sentiment swings (insider sales, legal items), [22]
- and ongoing scrutiny around how long the AI infrastructure boom can run at full speed. [23]
Bottom line for NVDA heading into Friday’s open
NVIDIA stock finished Dec. 18 on stronger footing and held near $174 after hours, supported by a cooler CPI backdrop and renewed confidence in AI infrastructure demand. [24]
Before Friday’s open, the setup is straightforward:
- Positioning/volatility could matter as much as fundamentals because Dec. 19 is triple witching. [25]
- Analyst optimism got louder today (notably the $350 Tigress target), but the target dispersion remains wide—meaning NVDA can react sharply to incremental data points.
- Strategic headlines (software ecosystem competition, government partnerships, infrastructure expansion reports) keep the long-term narrative active—but the near-term tape will likely be driven by rates, Nasdaq direction, and options-related flows.
References
1. www.investopedia.com, 2. www.investopedia.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.investopedia.com, 5. www.investopedia.com, 6. www.barrons.com, 7. www.barrons.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. www.reuters.com, 14. www.investing.com, 15. www.investing.com, 16. www.britannica.com, 17. www.newyorkfed.org, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.investopedia.com, 21. www.reuters.com, 22. www.reuters.com, 23. www.barrons.com, 24. www.investopedia.com, 25. www.nyse.com
