NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 13:57 EST — Regular session
Nvidia shares were up 0.1% at $185.31 in afternoon trading on Friday, after moving between $183.69 and $186.97. A Reuters report said the AI-chip maker is demanding full upfront payment from Chinese customers for its H200 graphics processing units (GPUs) — chips used to train and run AI models — and will not allow cancellations, refunds or configuration changes; Chief Executive Jensen Huang said demand in China was “quite high.” Chinese tech firms have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips, far above Nvidia’s inventory of about 700,000, the report said. 1
The tougher stance lands as investors try to pin down how much China demand can add to earnings at the biggest AI hardware name. China plans to approve some imports of Nvidia’s H200 chips as soon as this quarter, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the situation. 2
Beijing has already asked some Chinese tech firms to halt H200 orders while it weighs conditions, Reuters said on Wednesday, even after Washington approved exports last month with a 25% revenue-sharing fee; U.S. export licences — permits needed to ship restricted chips — are still being processed. “China is committed to basing its national development on its own strengths,” Chinese Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said. Stifel analyst Ruben Roy called China “a swing factor to the positive for NVDA, with sell-side and buy-side models not counting on these sales just yet.” 3
Chip stocks were higher anyway, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF up about 3.0%. Broadcom rose 3.8%, Taiwan Semiconductor gained 1.5% and AMD added 0.4%, while the Nasdaq-heavy Invesco QQQ climbed 1.1%.
The pay-first terms shift much of the regulatory risk to buyers, who would be wiring cash before Beijing’s rules are settled and before export paperwork clears. Traders have treated the China channel as a lever that can flip estimates quickly, or vanish just as fast.
But the downside is plain. A delay, tighter conditions or another reversal in chip policy could leave customers sitting on paid-for orders and leave Nvidia juggling supply that was built for a market it cannot fully serve.
Investors are watching for any new signal on export licences and Beijing’s conditions, and for Nvidia’s quarterly results on Feb. 25. 4
