World stocks steady as Nvidia outlook boosts tech shares

Nvidia just posted a quarter that made even the most optimistic Wall Street estimates look modest. The chipmaker reported $96.2 billion in second-quarter revenue for fiscal 2027, a 106% jump from the same period a year ago and roughly $4 billion above what analysts had penciled in. The real kicker wasn’t the quarter itself. It was the forward guidance. Nvidia projected roughly 70% revenue growth for fiscal 2028, nearly doubling the 45% consensus estimate among analysts. The numbers behind the rally Nvidia’s data center business generated $89 billion in revenue during the quarter, a 117% year-over-year increase, driven by what CEO Jensen Huang described as supply-constrained AI demand at a “critical inflection point.” Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.22, with gross margins holding at a healthy 75%. For the third quarter, Nvidia guided revenue of approximately $108 billion, plus or minus 2%. Shares responded accordingly, climbing between 6% and 7.4% in premarket trading on August 27. At least 10 brokerages raised their price targets in the aftermath. Goldman Sachs bumped its 12-month target to $300, while Citigroup went a step further to $315. Why AI demand keeps defying gra...