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Luke Kawa

Nvidia, AMD slump as US government said to consider capping AI chip sales at 75,000 per Chinese buyer

The US is considering putting a cap of 75,000 on the number of AI chips that Chinese firms can purchase, per Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

Both Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are lower in premarket trading, as this limit would apply to the combined number of H200 and MI325 chips that buyers would be able to amass.

Of course, the broad risk-off tone as Middle East tensions weigh on global equities, in particular memory stocks, is also contributing to downside on Tuesday morning.

Leading Chinese tech companies like Alibaba and ByteDance (parent company of TikTok) would reportedly like to purchase a number of chips well above this potential limit.

These mulled limits are still currently a moot point. On Nvidia’s Q4 conference call, CFO Colette Kress mentioned that the company still does not yet know whether it will be able to ship any AI chips to China. Whether or not Beijing will allow tech companies to import the chips is an unsettled question.

In January, the Commerce Department revised its export license review policy for certain semiconductors, laying out some of the terms and stipulations that companies would need to abide by in exporting these processors to China. That came on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post in December that said export restrictions on these chips would be relaxed.

(Since more powerful AI processors have seemingly been able to make their way into China in violation of export controls, one wonders how difficult it would be for Chinese giants to ultimately accumulate all the H200s they desire if China permits these imports.)

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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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