NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 02:23 ET — Market closed
- Nvidia last closed up $1.93, or about 1%, at $190.53.
- Axios reported Groq investors will get payouts tied to a deal valued around $20 billion even though no equity is changing hands.
- Nvidia’s next scheduled catalyst is its Feb. 25 quarterly results.
Nvidia shares ended Friday up $1.93, or about 1%, at $190.53.
The stock is in focus after Axios reported investors in AI-chip startup Groq will receive payouts tied to a deal valued around $20 billion even though no equity is changing hands.
The report adds detail to Nvidia’s unusual Groq tie-up, which blends a technology license with what dealmakers call an “acqui-hire” — paying to bring key staff in-house without buying the whole company. Axios
The move matters as AI demand shifts toward inference, the step where trained models generate responses in real time. Nvidia leads the market for training AI systems, but faces stiffer competition in inference from rivals and specialist startups.
Groq said Nvidia will take a non-exclusive license to its inference technology, meaning Groq can license the same designs to others. Groq founder Jonathan Ross and president Sunny Madra will join Nvidia along with other engineers, the startup said.
Groq will continue operating as an independent company under new CEO Simon Edwards, and its GroqCloud service will keep running, Groq said.
Axios, citing sources close to the deal, said most Groq shareholders will receive per-share distributions tied to the $20 billion valuation, with about 85% paid up front. It said roughly 90% of Groq employees are expected to join Nvidia.
Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon flagged regulatory risks around the structure. “Antitrust would seem to be the primary risk here,” he wrote. Reuters
Groq builds chips aimed at inference workloads. The approach uses SRAM — a type of on-chip memory — which can reduce reliance on high-bandwidth memory used in many AI accelerators.
Nvidia dominates AI training, but companies including Advanced Micro Devices have been pushing products aimed at inference, where customers want low-latency responses at lower cost.
Neither company disclosed financial terms for the license and hires. Traders will be watching for any further detail on costs and integration as the deal moves from announcement to execution.
Before the next session, investors have Nvidia’s next earnings report on the calendar: the company is scheduled to release fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Feb. 25.
Nvidia last guided for fourth-quarter revenue of about $65 billion, plus or minus 2%, and gross margin near 75%. Any change in those expectations, or commentary on supply and demand for its Blackwell chips, is expected to move the stock.
On Friday, Nvidia traded between $189.50 and $192.67 and changed hands on about 139.7 million shares. The $190 area is an early level traders will be watching when U.S. markets reopen later Monday.
