Nvidia, other AI-exposed stocks, lead semis into Q3 earnings: Oppenheimer

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) lead semiconductor stocks heading into earnings season due in large part to artificial intelligence exposure, according to Oppenheimer.

These four stocks are Oppenheimer’s “top picks” with all receiving Outperform ratings.

“We see a largely binary set-up for the group, with leading AI-exposed companies again delivering upside results/outlook and most of the rest roughly in line, reflecting anemic non-AI demand trends,” said Oppenheimer analysts, led by Rick Schafer, in a Tuesday investor note.

Nvidia’s Blackwell GPU fourth quarter shipments are expected to surpass demand it saw for its Hopper unit and reach billions during the fourth quarter, Oppenheimer noted.

Semiconductor revenues across the board were up 28% year over year in August due to 11 months of steady growth. Memory sales accounted for 31% of the growth, according to Oppenheimer.

Marvell, Broadcom and Monolithic are expected to benefit as networking suppliers due to AI trends during the fourth quarter and into calendar year 2025.

Overall, data center AI stocks are leading semiconductor growth overall for the second straight year, while PC and smartphone units are relatively flat. Meanwhile, demand in the auto and industrial remains down.

Several semiconductor stocks were sliding during Tuesday morning trading. Nvidia and Monolithic were down 3% while Broadcom slipped 4%. AMD (AMD) fell 5%. However, Marvell was up nearly 2%.