NEW YORK, Jan 29, 2026, 16:08 (EST) — After-hours
Nvidia (NVDA.O) shares edged up 0.2% to $191.94 late Thursday in New York, after trading between $186.08 and $193.41 earlier. CEO Jensen Huang, speaking in Taipei, said the “actual license” for the company’s H200 AI chip in China is “being finalised.” He added that Nvidia needs “orders” before it can coordinate supply with manufacturing partner TSMC and noted tight chip packaging capacity. (Reuters)
Why it matters now: China stands as the key factor in Nvidia’s near-term H200 story, a chip at the center of U.S.-China tech tensions. Reuters reported Wednesday that ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent received approval to buy over 400,000 H200 chips combined. But conditions attached to the deal have slowed the move from approval to actual orders, and may even push these firms to meet quotas for domestic alternatives. The report noted the H200 offers about six times the performance of the H20 model Nvidia was previously allowed to sell to China, with Chinese companies reportedly ordering over two million H200 chips. (Reuters)
Investors are focused on what’s next for the financing behind the AI buildout. The Information reported that Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft are in talks to put up to $60 billion into OpenAI, with Nvidia possibly chipping in as much as $30 billion. According to the report, OpenAI is close to securing term sheets—preliminary investment agreements. Amazon and Microsoft declined to comment. Nvidia and OpenAI did not respond to Reuters outside business hours, and Reuters could not immediately verify the story. (Reuters)
Wall Street shifted into a defensive mode as Microsoft plunged 12%, pulling key indexes down with it. Investors are growing skeptical about whether heavy AI investments will pay off quickly. Analyst John Praveen cited “all sorts of storm clouds in the background,” highlighting rate hikes and political risks. (Reuters)
Chip stocks appeared steadier just a day earlier after Texas Instruments and other hardware suppliers reported results hinting that AI data-center demand is filtering through the supply chain. Louise Dudley, portfolio manager for global equities at Federated Hermes, noted, “Companies across the broader supply chain … are reporting that conditions are improving and that they are expanding their growth plans.” Meanwhile, Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, described ASML’s order intake as “a thumping set of numbers” signaling another growth phase. (Reuters)
But the China factor remains a double-edged sword. Beijing could delay approvals or impose tougher rules, while any change in export policy on either side can quickly hit the market. Another straightforward risk: supply chain snarls and how quickly customers spend can be just as crucial as the demand news itself.
Traders will be looking next week for evidence that China approvals convert into concrete purchase orders, while also keeping an eye on whether OpenAI funding talks solidify or lose momentum. Behind the scenes, the market continues to debate how much of the AI capex represents lasting investment versus a sprint that might stall.
Nvidia plans to release its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Feb. 25. Investors will be watching closely for comments on supply chain issues, demand from China, and the order trends among cloud and enterprise clients. (Nvidia)
