New York, January 13, 2026, 4:03 PM ET — After-hours
NVIDIA Corporation shares (NVDA) barely moved Tuesday following a report that China is restricting approvals for buying the company’s H200 AI chips. The stock last dipped 0.04% to $184.87 shortly after the close, after bouncing between $183.45 and $188.08. 1
The China headlines are key because the H200 — a top-tier graphics processing unit (GPU) used in data centers for training and running AI models — is central to Nvidia’s growth narrative. According to the report, Beijing’s guidance to some companies was “deliberately vague,” advising purchases only when “necessary.” More meetings are scheduled, keeping traders uncertain about how much demand will translate into actual shipments. 2
Nvidia injected fresh ambiguity on Tuesday, clarifying it does not ask for upfront payment on H200 chips, countering a Reuters report that highlighted unusually tough conditions for Chinese buyers. A company spokesperson told Reuters Nvidia “would never require customers to pay for products they do not receive.” 3
Away from geopolitics, Nvidia on Monday announced a new AI lab in healthcare, partnering with Eli Lilly. The companies said the effort could see up to $1 billion invested over five years in talent, infrastructure, and computing power. “AI is transforming every industry, and its most profound impact will be in life sciences,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said. 4
Nvidia took the stage at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference to highlight BioNeMo, its life-sciences software platform. The company said it’s scaling up the offering, aiming to bridge lab experiments with model training and deployment. Nvidia estimates industry R&D spending around $300 billion annually. Lilly’s Diogo Rau described the new lab initiative as “a catalyst” for advancing drug discovery. 5
Thermo Fisher Scientific, a leading supplier of lab equipment and services, announced a new partnership with Nvidia aimed at ramping up AI-driven automation in laboratories. The plan is to connect instruments, infrastructure, and data with Nvidia’s AI software. “Artificial intelligence coupled with laboratory automation will transform how scientific work is performed,” said Thermo Fisher’s executive vice president Gianluca Pettiti. 6
Nvidia’s push into life sciences is at the heart of a wider pharma-AI deal frenzy this week. On Tuesday, AstraZeneca struck a deal to acquire Modella AI, aiming to accelerate drug research and cut development expenses. 7
China remains the key factor for the stock. Beijing’s “special circumstances” policy might slow down H200 orders in the short term, while potential changes to U.S. export controls add further uncertainty. The healthcare deals could create opportunities, but compared to the company’s data-center chip segment, they’re a longer-term play.
Investors are now focused on China’s approval process and what it means for deliveries. Nvidia will release its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Feb. 25. 8
