Nvidia eclipses Meta’s single-day record gain

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

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1.

Printing money: Nvidia shares continue to surge on the back of blockbuster earnings. Shares in the AI semiconductor darling rose over 15% yesterday, putting it on track to add over USD260 billion ($396.73 billion) to its market capitalisation to USD2 trillion, which would be the largest single-session increase in market value by a company ever. Meta’s single-session gain of USD197 billion earlier this month is the previous record. Nvidia reported an eyewatering sales forecast for the current period of USD24 billion, beating the already high expectations of USD21.9 billion. Its Q4 results also beat Wall Street estimates. (Bloomberg)(Reuters)

2.

Stock rocket: Equities across the US, Europe and Japan have hit all-time highs on the back of Nvidia’s surging shares. Yesterday, the Nasdaq 100 added 2.5%, while the S&P 500 climbed the most since November. The USD15 billion VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) jumped 6.5%. US equities were also buoyed by strong manufacturing, housing and labour-market data. Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management told Bloomberg: “We think the near-term momentum in AI-related stocks is likely to continue. To position, we maintain our preference for semiconductors and software, and see opportunities in beneficiaries of AI edge computing, big tech, and their partners.” (Bloomberg)

3.

Flyover warning: Russian President Vladimir Putin took a 30 minute flight on a Tu-160M nuclear-capable supersonic strategic bomber yesterday, bolstering his image ahead of the Russian election next month. Putin is running as an independent candidate and is all but certain to win the election, Navalny’s death last week serving as a reminder of the Kremlin’s ruthless approach to dissent and all but destroying any meaningful opposition to his rule. The bomber is a modernised version of the Tu-160 that first flew in the 1980’s, codenamed Blackjack by NATO. (ABC News)(Reuters)

4.

Feeding AI content: Reddit has struck an AI content licensing deal with Google, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters. The agreement will see the social media company make its content available to train Google’s AI models. The contract is reportedly worth around USD60 million per year. Last year Reddit explained that it would charge companies for access to its application programming interface (API) which is how it distributes content. The sources added that Reddit’s long-awaited IPO could be filed as early as this week. (Reuters)(Capital Brief)

5.

US GDP looking up: S&P Global Ratings has upgraded its forecast for US GDP, citing a larger expansion at the end of 2023 and a strong labour market. S&P has revised its real US GDP forecast of 1.5% for 2024 to 2.4%. S&P chief US economist Satyam Panday said: “This is significant as US economic expansion exceeded our expectations throughout the second half of 2023 and economic activity in [the current quarter] has been running warmer than anticipated.” Additionally, the agency said that inflation is likely to cool in the coming months despite the “uneven disinflationary process so far.” (Financial Times)(S&P Global)

6.

Alexei Navalny death: Alexei Navalny’s mother has been shown his body for the first time since his death was reported. Lyudmila Navalnya said that she was brought to a morgue where she signed a death certificate, and that Russian Authorities were pressuring her to allow a “secret” burial. The mother of Russia’s foremost opposition leader and Putin critic said that authorities were refusing to hand over her son’s body, and are setting the conditions for his burial. According to Russian authorities, Navalny died on February 16 after he fell ill following a walk at the penal colony where he was imprisoned. The Times has reported that Navalny was killed by a ‘punch to the heart,’ a hallmark technique used by the KGB. (BBC)(The Times)

7.

Nikkei record: Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached a record intra-day high on the back of this week’s tech rally, breaking above its 1989 peak. The Nikkei rose as much as 2% to 39.029 yesterday, with tech shares including Screen Holding and Tokyo Electron surging 10% and 6.6% respectively. Saxo Capital Markets strategist Charu Chanana said: “After some recent consolidation, Nvidia’s earnings beat is just the perfect catalyst for Japanese equities to reach record highs.” (Capital Brief)(Bloomberg)

8.

Thinkpads thinkAI: Lenovo reported its first revenue gain since 2022 on the back of higher sales for key products. The company also forecast strong demand for PCs for H2 2024 amid rising appetite for AI-driven tech. Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said that the revenue growth is a “turning point” for Lenovo and that the company expects this momentum to continue. Q3 revenues rose 3% from a year earlier to USD15.72 billion, ending the company’s five consecutive quarters of declines. Its net profit for the period fell to USD337 million from USD437 million (Wall Street Journal)