The three major indexes on the New York stock market closed higher as expectations for results from Nvidia, a core pillar of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, were priced in ahead of time.
On the 25th (U.S. Eastern time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session up 307.65 points (0.63%) at 49,482.15. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 56.06 points (0.81%) to 6,946.13, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 288.40 points (1.26%) to 23,152.08.
Ahead of Nvidia's earnings release scheduled after the close, buying poured into AI and semiconductor-related stocks. All mega-cap technology companies with a market capitalization of $1 trillion or more rose. Nvidia gained more than 1%, and Microsoft, which had been sluggish for a while, climbed 3%. Broadcom, Meta and Tesla also jumped around 2%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.62%.
Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer (CIO) for the Americas at UBS, said, "Whether this level of market confidence can persist depends in part on Nvidia's results," and noted, "In recent weeks, as hyperscalers have released plans to expand capital expenditure, the market expects strong sales growth and revenue that beats estimates."
In software, after Anthropic released an update the previous day seeking coexistence with software corporations, bargain hunting has flowed in and is pushing share prices higher. Salesforce, Inc., which had been swept up in an Anthropic-driven sell-off, rose 3.41% ahead of its earnings release.
Meanwhile, Nvidia's fourth-quarter results for last year, released after the close, beat market expectations for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS). Nvidia's fourth-quarter revenue came in at $68.1 billion, with adjusted EPS at $1.62. Market expectations compiled by LSEG were revenue of $66.2 billion and EPS of $1.53. Nvidia shares jumped more than 4% in after-hours transactions on the strong results.