NEW YORK, January 2, 2026, 16:06 ET — After-hours
- Nvidia shares rose about 1% in late U.S. trading as chip stocks led the market on the first session of 2026.
- A broad semiconductor rally and shifting rate expectations kept the focus on AI-linked “capex” spending.
- Next catalysts include CEO Jensen Huang’s CES appearance and Nvidia’s Feb. 25 earnings report.
NVIDIA Corp shares rose $2.00, or about 1.1%, to $188.50 in late trade on Friday, extending a semiconductor-led lift in the first trading session of 2026.
The move mattered because chipmakers helped offset broader market churn, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index up about 3.5% in afternoon trading.
For investors, Nvidia’s direction is a quick read on whether the “AI infrastructure” trade is regaining traction after a choppy year-end. That trade centers on spending for servers, networking and power gear that run artificial intelligence workloads. Reuters
Peers also advanced. AMD was up about 4.5%, Intel gained roughly 7.0%, and Taiwan Semiconductor’s U.S.-listed shares rose about 5.3%, while Broadcom was little changed.
The backdrop was less friendly. U.S. Treasury yields climbed and the dollar firmed, which can weigh on high-valuation growth stocks by increasing the effective “discount rate” investors apply to future profits. Reuters
That’s why Wall Street is watching capital expenditures, or “capex,” the spending companies commit to build and equip data centers. “If companies start to pull back on the capex … you’re probably looking at more of a flat year,” said Jeff Buchbinder at LPL Financial. Reuters
Savita Subramanian, Bank of America’s equity and quant strategist, flagged elevated near-term index risks in a note on Friday, arguing valuations remain stretched on most measures.
A Reuters analysis on Thursday underscored why Nvidia remains at the center of that debate: earnings for S&P 500 companies are projected to rise more than 15% in 2026, with the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps expected to grow faster than the rest of the index. Nvidia is part of that group, along with companies such as Apple and Amazon. Reuters
Near-term, traders are also watching CES 2026 in Las Vegas, where Nvidia is slated to appear during the Jan. 5–9 show. Investors often treat CEO Jensen Huang’s CES remarks as a signal on the company’s product roadmap and customer demand.
The next hard catalyst on the calendar is earnings. Nvidia is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results on Feb. 25, according to the company’s investor relations events calendar.
Macro data could still move the tape first. Next week’s U.S. labor market releases are a key focus for rate expectations after recent Fed communications emphasized the need for more clarity on jobs.
With Treasury yields edging up and valuations in focus, Nvidia is likely to keep trading as a barometer for AI infrastructure demand — and for how much risk investors are willing to take in mega-cap tech to start 2026.
