New York, January 22, 2026, 08:24 AM EST — Premarket
Nvidia (NVDA.O) shares ticked up 0.9% to $185.03 in premarket trading Thursday, following a 3% jump the day before that pushed the stock to a $183.32 close.
The stock finds itself once again caught between upbeat demand forecasts and export tensions. Bloomberg reported that CEO Jensen Huang is set to visit China in late January as Nvidia pushes to regain access to a crucial market for its AI chips.
The reason this matters now is straightforward. Gaining access to China can significantly boost revenue for a company supplying the hardware behind the AI surge, but Washington’s regulations can upend the landscape in an instant.
Policy risks surfaced in Congress this week. A U.S. House panel pushed forward a bill giving lawmakers a chance to review—and possibly block—licenses for exporting advanced AI chips. The latest draft also targets Nvidia’s top-tier Blackwell chips. Representative Brian Mast called it a matter “about the future of military warfare.” Meanwhile, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned from Davos that exporting these chips “would be a big mistake.” Reuters
The wider market also lent support. Wall Street futures rose after President Donald Trump eased off tariff threats related to Greenland. Investors then shifted focus to new U.S. economic figures due Thursday, including the personal consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation.
Intel is in focus as it prepares to report earnings after the market closes. Reuters revealed that Intel has secured outside funding, notably a $5 billion injection from Nvidia, as CEO Lip-Bu Tan drives a turnaround. Investors will be watching closely for any hints that demand in the data-center segment remains strong.
Nvidia has been active beyond public markets. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company put $150 million into AI inference start-up Baseten, part of a $300 million funding round that values Baseten at $5 billion. Inference—the stage where a trained AI model delivers answers—is quickly becoming a hot battleground for AI chip makers.
On the venture front, Nvidia participated in a $480 million seed funding round for Humans&, a startup now valued at $4.48 billion, Reuters reported Tuesday. CEO Eric Zelikman told Reuters the model “will coordinate with people, and other AIs where appropriate.” Reuters
A filing revealed insider selling plans. Nvidia executive vice president Ajay K. Puri filed a Form 144 with the U.S. SEC, proposing to offload 200,000 shares valued at roughly $36 million.
The downside risk is clear. China’s position on chip imports is still up in the air, while the U.S. export discussion is intensifying. Either development could hit the stock fast, particularly if risk appetite takes a hit once more.
Nvidia’s next major event is the release of its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results, set for Feb. 25.
