Wall Street firms cut Nvidia’s rating citing Jensen Huang’s departure while rival AMD drew upgrades.
- Truist downgraded Nvidia to ‘Hold’ and slashed its price target to $174 from $346.
- Craig-Hallum also moved to ‘Hold,’ saying Huang’s exit leaves a “big hole” that will be hard to fill.
- William Blair and Oppenheimer upgraded AMD, with Blair pointing to Nvidia’s leadership vacuum.
Nvidia (NVDA) dominated this week’s analyst moves after two firms cut the chip giant’s rating following Jensen Huang’s departure. Truist and Craig-Hallum both moved to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ and slashed their price targets. AMD (AMD), MP Materials (MP) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) received upgrades, while DraftKings (DKNG) and Toast (TOST) were downgraded.
Truist Halves Nvidia Price Target On Rising Risks
Truist downgraded Nvidia stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ and nearly halved its price target to $174 from $346. The firm stated that “risks are more relevant than valuation.” The analyst said the concern goes beyond Huang’s resignation and personal affairs.
Truist also pointed to possible damage to the company’s culture and the chance that Nvidia shipped GPUs to companies and government entities in China, which could hurt future revenue.
Truist acknowledged that the valuation “looks incredibly attractive.” Even so, it said the risks make it hard to forecast revenue or earnings with “enough confidence” to keep a ‘Buy’ rating.
Craig-Hallum also downgraded Nvidia to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ and cut its price target to $180 from $275. The firm said Huang’s departure “creates a big hole” that will be very difficult, if not impossible, to fill. The right replacement could bring some stability, the analyst said. But scrutiny of China and APAC sales and rising competition won’t be resolved soon and “may even worsen.”
AMD Seen As A Beneficiary
William Blair upgraded AMD stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ without issuing a price target. The firm said the risk/reward has shifted in AMD’s favor. Intel’s (INTC) Xeon roadmap continues to face delays and supply shortages, and the shift to Arm-based hosts is proving less decisive than feared. AMD’s valuation multiple has also come down as estimates moved higher. Blair sees an opening for AMD while its largest rival, Nvidia, faces scrutiny and a leadership vacuum, and it sees “runway” for the shares.
MP Materials And Riot Platforms Upgraded
Freedom Broker upgraded MP Materials stock to ‘Buy’ but lowered its price target to $51 from $57, citing the company’s valuation and cost-cutting efforts. In Q3, MP Materials’ revenue jumped 176% year-over-year to $147.7 million.
Neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) output reached 1,018 metric tons, up 41% year-on-year. Sales volumes climbed 94% to 1,020 metric tons, reflecting higher production and stronger demand.
Jefferies upgraded Riot Platforms stock to ‘Buy’ and raised its target to $28 from $13. It cited the “highly favorable” economics of the Corsicana lease, which cuts capital spending to $6 million per IT MW versus $11 million to $15 million for a typical data center build.
DraftKings And Toast Also Face Downgrades
Berenberg downgraded DraftKings stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ and lowered its price target to $20 from $27.50. Analyst Jack Cummins pointed to a big third-quarter (Q3) miss and an outlook reset driven by heavy investment in prediction markets. He said that spending “shifts the investment case” amid an uncertain regulatory landscape.
Wells Fargo cut DraftKings to ‘Equal Weight’ with a $21 target, down from $30. It called the stock a “show me story” after years of negative estimate revisions.
DraftKings lowered its 2026 revenue outlook to $6.35 billion to $6.55 billion from its earlier estimate of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion. It also slashed its adjusted EBITDA outlook to $175 million to $275 million from $700 million to $900 million. DraftKings expects to invest about $650 million to $700 million in building its prediction markets business.
Bernstein downgraded Toast stock to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ and lowered its price target to $38 from $45. The firm said its thesis that Toast is an AI winner has already played out. It is watching competition and the cost of growth more closely, and it called the CFO’s exit “not ideal.”
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