NVDA Stock Flattens As Retail Turns ‘Extremely Bearish’, But Wall Street Flags $20B CPU Opportunity Ahead of Earnings

• RBC Capital analyst Srini Pajjuri kept an ‘Outperform’ rating and $300 price target on Nvidia ahead of its Q2 results.
• Oppenheimer reiterated an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares with a price target of $265.
• Oppenheimer estimated Nvidia's CPU business could reach $20 billion in 2026, putting it on a similar scale to the current x86 CPU market.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares were little changed on Thursday morning, with retail sentiment turning ‘extremely bearish’ on Stocktwits even as Wall Street analysts flagged new growth drivers ahead of the chipmaker's earnings report next week.

In a note to investors cited by TheFly, RBC Capital said Nvidia can keep growing not just because it is selling more chips, but because its next-generation products could be more expensive and open up new markets, particularly CPUs.

Meanwhile, Oppenheimer estimated that Nvidia's CPU business could reach $20 billion in 2026, putting it on a similar scale to the current x86 CPU market. The firm also sees China accelerator sales as additional upside, meaning any improvement in Nvidia's ability to sell AI chips into China could provide another growth catalyst.

NVDA stock was flat in Thursday morning trade. A lower close would extend the AI bellwether's losing streak to five consecutive sessions.

Wall Street Flags Nvidia’s Blackwell, Rubin Opportunity

RBC Capital analyst Srini Pajjuri kept an ‘Outperform’ rating, along with a $300 price target on Nvidia. He pointed to continued demand from the generative AI buildout, Nvidia's strong access to supply and the early ramp of its Rubin platform. He expects Rubin systems to carry an average selling price premium of 50% or more compared with prior generations.

The analyst also flagged roughly $10 billion in incremental standalone CPU opportunity in the second half of the year.

Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer said the firm sees upside to both Nvidia's second-quarter (Q2) results and its third-quarter (Q3) outlook, with Blackwell Ultra expected to drive the momentum.

Schafer also pointed to the ramp of Nvidia's next-generation VR200 platform in the current quarter, which could support growth through the second half of the year.

Nvidia Faces Another High-Stakes Earnings Test

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Nvidia deteriorated to ‘extremely bearish’ from ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, while chatter stayed at ‘low’ levels.

One retail trader warned that semiconductor stocks, including Nvidia, were “nearing breakdowns,” reflecting growing concern over the sector's recent weakness.

Another platform user suggested Nvidia's downtrend heading into earnings was not unusual, pointing to the pressure the stock has faced in the days leading up to its quarterly results in the past.

The company's shares have declined heading into and after each of its past several earnings reports, even when results beat expectations, a pattern some strategists attribute to how high the bar has been set after years of outsized growth. 

NVDA stock has gained over 14% this year and nearly 25% in the last 12 months. 

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