Global tech stocks climb as Nvidia results spark relief rally soothing AI bubble concerns

Global tech stocks rallied Thursday arsenic investors piled backmost into AI-related names, buoyed by Nvidia earnings.

Nvidia topped forecasts for revenue, which jumped 62% to $57.01 cardinal year-on-year, and issued stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter income guidance, giving investors the assurance they were looking for to proceed placing bets connected the AI industry. Shares were 5% higher successful premarket trade.

In Europe, Dutch semiconductor firms BESI and ASMI moved up implicit 3% and 2% successful the archetypal hours of trading, respectively. ASML, which makes captious instrumentality for semiconductors, gained 2.1%.

Asia-listed stocks Samsung Electronics and Hon Hai Precision Industry, besides known arsenic Foxconn, climbed 3.5% and 3.3% higher, respectively.

Stateside, investors flocked to tech stocks successful premarket trade: AMD roseate 5%, Arm gained astir 4%, Micron Technology precocious 2.7%, Marvell Technology added 3.3%, Broadcom was past seen 3.1% up and Intel moved 2% higher.

Dan Hanbury, planetary equity portfolio manager astatine Ninety One, which holds Nvidia arsenic its second-largest holding successful its planetary strategical equity fund, cautiously welcomed Nvidia's stock terms leap successful Thursday's premarket trade.

"As a holder, it's large to spot an aboriginal affirmative absorption but of people arsenic we cognize those reactions tin reverse further into the day," Hanbury told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

"Our speechmaking of the numbers is they are precise strong. Clearly, we tin get caught up successful the quarterly sound of a institution similar this but if we conscionable enactment those [numbers] successful discourse … lone 3 years agone they were delivering $15 cardinal of information halfway revenue, we're present looking astatine statement forecasts into adjacent twelvemonth of $280 billion," Hanbury said. "That is phenomenal maturation that these guys are delivering."

Karen McCormick, main concern serviceman astatine London-based task superior institution Beringea, spoke with CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" astir immoderate of the caller moves to bulk-up connected AI and scale, peculiarly pursuing Nvidia and Microsoft's recent push to put up to $15 cardinal successful OpenAI rival Anthropic.

"It's ever a small spot intimidating to contradict Jensen Huang close aft helium has made phenomenal net results but successful presumption of the astir incestuousness of the vale and the AI companies, it is much than we person seen successful the past," McCormick said.

"I mean, if you deliberation astir traditionally, we mightiness person called thing similar this vendor financing, wherever your vendor is helping to enactment the business," McCormick said. "In this lawsuit we are conscionable doing it with hundreds of billions of dollars and the ecosystem itself is present truthful intertwined that it's astir a small spot nerve-wracking due to the fact that if we are successful a bubble and if immoderate of that bubble bursts, what is going to hap to each of the related businesses?"

The culmination of circular dealmaking, indebtedness issuances and precocious valuations added unit to the marketplace up of Nvidia's much-anticipated results, contempt different Big Tech firms posting coagulated quarterly earnings.

"The flip broadside to that is that each of them has incredibly robust equilibrium sheets and incredibly robust investors, who whitethorn not fto them neglect either way," McCormick said.

Quilter Cheviot's planetary caput of exertion probe and concern strategist Ben Barringer, added that Nvidia's valuation isn't "particularly excessive."

Valuations aren't that streteched erstwhile you look astatine the halfway large tech companies, helium told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" connected Thursday.

In presumption of indebtedness that's besides astatine the peripheral, helium said. While Meta and Amazon person raised debt, "they're inactive nett currency positioned," Barringer added.

"I deliberation it's much astir them managing their treasury presumption and managing their equilibrium sheet, arsenic it were. Yes, it's not large that they are doing immoderate of this capex from debt, but it's obscurity adjacent arsenic atrocious arsenic 1999 wherever these were precise heavy levered telecom companies doing a batch of this capex."

However, Gil Luria, caput of exertion probe astatine D.A. Davidson, told CNBC connected Thursday that Nvidia is not a bubble barometer. "The interest is astir companies raising a batch of indebtedness to physique information centers," helium said.

"Any concerns astir Nvidia were surely laid to remainder [with Nvidia's earnings], but that doesn't mean that we don't request to support an oculus connected companies lending oregon borrowing to physique information centers," Luria added.

— CNBC'S Sam Meredith contributed to this report