NVIDIA's Hot Until It Is Not
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang

NVIDIA's Hot Until It Is Not

Once upon a time I was into computer gaming. The gaming experience (speed and graphics) with a NVIDIA GeForce was epic. I could not afford it back then, thanks to the price tag but I could live with buying an alternative graphics card.

GeForce


Today, NVIDIA is a powerhouse for AI chips and its "moat" the CUDA software model.

The public hullabaloo around NVIDIA is something similar to what I hear of Bitcoin (when it was up 10x). Only difference is 摩根大通 CEO Jamie Dimon isn't on TV hammering NVIDIA for being a fraud.

People are getting swept away by the favourable noise and the "AI wave". The narrative around entire existing IT infrastructure being replaced by AI chips sounds convincing but a single company getting all the benefit is a bit too much considering how competitors can hang out like honey-bees to snatch margin opportunities (many tech businesses have risen in last few months now with AI Hype).

Jeff Bezos famously said: "Your margin is my opportunity." The Magnificent Seven has already signalled (Meta, Microsoft) that they are already working on internal alternatives.

Most credible experts do say NVIDIA is years ahead and it has displayed that by launching new chips that are launched in a matter of months rather than even a year. Jensen Huang, its CEO in his traditional black jacket is active on the media and doing a good job so far (credit to him for being the only tech CEO around for last 30 years).

Some key questions that have been ringing with me:

  • Will NVIDIA experience a price crash? It has had a great run and a crash could happen (a buying opportunity possibly). Plus it will be more plausible if in coming months there are cheaper alternatives that provide enough computing power for AI functionality. There will always be a market for cheaper chips and that will eventually be the case with customers who will experience NVIDIA chips & realise they don't need so much compute power. But if NVIDIA continues to innovate with a shorter product lifecycle ahead of all chip makers, it will continue being a leader with high margins.
  • Will NVIDIA crash like Cisco did in 2000s? Cisco was a legendary stock back then due to its major hardware contribution to the internet-era growth. At its peak, it had a price-to-earnings of ~200x, all thanks to the hype and fever amongst investors. After that it dropped 80% and never recovered its pre-crash price to this day. For NVIDIA, its narrative is about the hardware that is driving the AI revolution. Its P/E is at 74x today (Forward P/E 48x) and could reach similar possible frenzy territory. It is very much possible NVIDIA's revenue growth% could face diminishing returns but the party just started & there is no indication of a slowdown.

For all wanting a verdict whether to invest in NVIDIA, my best advice is to understand what is the best fair price to pay for a business like this plus ensure you have a margin of safety whereby if its earnings drop by 45% (PEG ratio is at 1.45; PEG ratio of 1.0 is ideal) your portfolio won't be in doldrums.

Note: The views expressed here are solely my own and do not represent those of any past or present employer. Any views here are not investment recommendations.


Mark Alan Bartholomew

Applied physics.(JOIN ME) the work presented here is entirely new

5 个月

NVIDIA is part of a larger problem Immigration policy & the flooding of migrants into the U.S., monetary policy created by a private banking system & men with private interests and private accumulations of wealth, appointed, unelected and unaudited, performing without oversight, business practice(s), including private equity takeover and sell-off, mergers & acquisitions, government shutdowns due to an emerging global world health presence, and now Artificial Intelligent systems poised to replace as much as 25% of our professional workforce over the next five years, & the American family has no chance Add on the effects of this private banking system we call the federal reserve and the experience of coming off the gold standard, creating runaway inflation to the tune of ten percent annually, as a home and car cost $14,000 & $1,200 respectively, in 1970, but cost $1.5 Million & $60,000 today, and the family, even local and federal government(s) are left scrambling Analysts and educators in our business schools do not recognize this runaway economy. Is it perhaps because we measure inflation utilizing three subsidized markets, in energy, transportation and agriculture? AI is but a single threat MARK applied physics

回复
Ricardo Viteri

Healthtech Innovation and Strategy

5 个月

Great piece, I really enjoyed reading this!

Ahmed S.

Product Strategy @ PNC | Driving Product Innovation, MBA

5 个月

Some sort of price correction has to be inevitable. NVIDIA has become a “story stock” and it seems like a lot of future value has been priced in already. Thoughtful piece.

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