Nvidia Slips Ahead of Earnings as AI Sentiment Weakens — What Traders Should Watch

Nvidia stock began Tuesday’s session under pressure once again, falling more than 2% in early trading as Wall Street continued rotating out of mega-cap technology and AI leaders ahead of Wednesday’s earnings. The move followed Monday’s broad tech selloff and came amid rising concerns that the economics of generative AI may not be as strong—or as immediate—as once believed. Redburn and Rothschild & Co. issued fresh downgrades of Microsoft and Amazon, two of Nvidia’s largest customers, citing skepticism around AI monetization. This shift in tone has injected volatility directly into the Nvidia AI earnings outlook.

Nvidia attempted to soften the blow on Tuesday morning by announcing up to $10 billion in new investment in Anthropic. Microsoft will also contribute up to $5 billion, and Anthropic will scale its Claude models on Microsoft cloud infrastructure powered by Nvidia GPUs. The companies emphasized a new collaboration to optimize Anthropic workloads for future Nvidia architectures. While strategically important, the news wasn’t strong enough to fully reverse early selling pressure.

Other chip stocks also declined sharply—AMD fell nearly 6%, Broadcom slipped 1.5%, and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF dropped 2.8%. This widespread weakness underscores the importance of Wednesday’s earnings announcement to Nvidia’s AI earnings outlook.

What Wall Street Expects on Wednesday

Analysts project Nvidia will report:

Revenue: $54.8 billion
EPS: $1.23

These expectations remain historically high, but after two consecutive down days, Nvidia now faces a slightly lower hurdle than usual. Still, traders will scrutinize far more than top-line numbers. The Nvidia AI earnings outlook hinges on:

Competition from AMD, cloud ASICs, and custom hyperscaler silicon
Chip depreciation cycles are affecting spending timelines
Management commentary surrounding AI demand durability

Morningstar strategist Dave Sekera notes that traders want clarity on shifting competitive dynamics because Nvidia’s first-mover advantage—while massive—is not permanent.

What Today’s Price Action Means for Traders

Tuesday’s decline wasn’t random—it was a repricing of expectations for the Nvidia AI earnings outlook ahead of a major catalyst. This gives traders several clear setups going into Wednesday.

Day Trading Outlook

Bullish Intraday Scenario

Holding above $182–184 → VWAP reclaim long setups
Break above $188–190 → momentum continuation
Possible short–covering rally into earnings

Bearish Intraday Scenario

Lose $180 → flush toward $176–178
Watch sympathy weakness in AMD, AVGO, SMH
“Sell the rumor” pressure into the close

Swing Trading Outlook (1–5 Days)

Bullish (Post-Earnings Beat)

If Nvidia beats and guides higher, upside targets include:

$195
$203
$210 on a full squeeze

This scenario requires stabilizing margins and improving tone in Nvidia’s AI earnings outlook.

Bearish (Miss or Weak Guidance)

Downside targets include:

$170–175 primary support
$165 if AI sector selling accelerates

Bottom Line

Tuesday’s selloff reflected the market adjusting to uncertainty surrounding Nvidia’s AI earnings outlook. With tech downgrades, AI-monetization concerns, and a cautious tone across the sector, Nvidia enters its earnings report facing more pressure—and more opportunity—than at any point in the past year.

The company’s multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic reinforces its deep position at the core of AI infrastructure. Now, the question is whether earnings can calm concerns about competition, margins, and long-term chip demand. Traders should prepare for volatility—and for the possibility that Wednesday marks the beginning of Nvidia’s next major trend.