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Luke Kawa

Trump and Xi didn’t talk about Nvidia’s “super duper” Blackwell chips

What US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about in South Korea obviously matters for financial market participants. What they agreed to? Even more so.

But what they didn’t talk about is also newsworthy.

Like Nvidia’s Blackwell offerings.

Ahead of his chat with Xi, Trump said, “We’ll be speaking about Blackwell, it’s the super duper chip.”

After the meeting, Trump said that while Nvidia and semiconductors were a topic of discussion, “We’re not talking about the Blackwell.”

Shares of Nvidia are down about 2% in early trading.

The most likely explanation is that it’s simply a bridge too far to conceive of sending America’s most advanced AI chips to China in the current geopolitical climate.

It took months of haggling, through public persuasion campaigns and private cajoling, for Nvidia (and AMD) to regain the ability to send nerfed versions of their AI chips to China. And, depending on which reports you believe, demand for those processors is either white-hot or companies aren’t even allowed to buy them (note: both these things could be true!).

Getting effectively locked out of the Chinese market was a major headache for Nvidia earlier this year. In late May, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said, “With half of the world’s AI researchers based there, the platform that wins China is positioned to lead globally.”

It’s hard not to view Huang’s recent presentation in DC as draping Nvidia in the American flag, which may suggest that he believes Beijing’s active push for a made-in-China AI boom has staying power.

Nvidia’s upcoming earnings report, slated for November 11, will be closely watched for how much (or if) its China business is recovering. Its outlook for $54 billion in sales does not assume any H20 shipments for the three months ending in October.

Zooming out, uncertainty around China isn’t standing in the way of Nvidia’s eye-popping success: Huang said that orders for Blackwell and Rubin chips have already exceeded $500 billion through 2026.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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