NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 16:05 EST — After-hours
- Nvidia (NVDA) ended little changed at $185.01 after swinging between $183.67 and $185.82
- A report said China is preparing to approve some imports of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips as soon as this quarter
- Traders are watching China licensing signals and Nvidia’s Feb. 25 results for the next clear catalyst
NVIDIA Corporation shares ended little changed on Friday after a report said China is preparing to approve imports of the company’s H200 artificial-intelligence (AI) chips for select commercial uses as soon as this quarter. The stock closed at $185.01, after trading between $183.67 and $185.82. 1
The report matters because U.S. export curbs have squeezed a market investors still treat as a swing factor for 2026 growth. Washington said last month it would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 processors to China while taking a 25% fee on those sales. 2
For the stock, timing is awkward. Nvidia is due to update investors on its quarterly results later next month, an event that tends to pull positioning forward across the chip group; its investor calendar lists results on Feb. 25. 3
Nvidia has also been trying to widen the story beyond data centers. At the CES trade show this week, it rolled out a next-generation platform slated for a robotaxi — a driverless taxi — alliance involving Lucid, Nuro and Uber, and Mercedes-Benz said it will launch a new driver-assistance system in the United States later this year using Nvidia chips.
Amazon Web Services executive Ozgur Tohumcu called generative AI — software that can create text and code — a “big accelerant” because it can cut the resources needed for development and validation. Infineon CEO Jochen Hanebeck said he did not see a “tsunami” toward Level 5 autonomy, industry shorthand for fully self-driving cars with no human minder, while Nvidia automotive chief Ali Kani said the company now has “foundational pieces of technology” that make it feel the industry is closer. 4
Management also moved. Nvidia hired Google Cloud marketing leader Alison Wagonfeld as its first chief marketing officer, with a February start, according to reports. “I’m thrilled to be moving from one AI leader to another,” Wagonfeld wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing the jump. 5
The broader tape helped. U.S. job growth slowed in December and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4%, keeping rate-cut talk alive and supporting growth stocks into the close, while chip sentiment also got a lift after TSMC posted a 20% jump in fourth-quarter revenue and set Jan. 15 for full earnings and guidance. 6
Analysts stayed mostly constructive on Nvidia, even with the stock stuck in a range. Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh raised his price target to $275 from $245, pointing to expectations for higher AI-related capital spending by big tech customers in 2026, Barron’s reported. 7
But the China reopening is not in hand. Approvals could stall or come with limits, and customers still have options — including more in-house chips — if pricing, supply or rules shift again.
Next up, investors will look for any signal that China approvals are turning into orders, while the chip group watches TSMC’s Jan. 15 outlook ahead of Nvidia’s Feb. 25 results.
