European shares flat as Nvidia boost offsets sector weakness

AWS plans to deploy 2 million more Nvidia GPUs by 2028, expanding its partnership with Nvidia. Demand for AI computing has exceeded expectations, prompting the companies to add Nvidia's Blackwell Ultra, Rubin, and Rubin Ultra GPUs. They are also collaborating on CPUs, networking, and AI models. Nvidia's Vera CPUs and AI stack will be available on AWS, including 100,000 GPUs for US government workloads. The partnership extends to robotics and data processing, with AWS and Nvidia targeting growing

Nvidia reportedly plans to acquire AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, up from a $7 billion valuation in earlier talks. Hugging Face, valued at $4.5 billion in 2023, focuses on open AI models. Both companies have not confirmed the deal. Nvidia is a major GPU manufacturer, while Hugging Face offers open-source AI tools.

Halfords raised its annual profit forecast to £55m-£65m, citing strong demand for air conditioning services due to warm weather and core business momentum. Analysts upgraded forecasts, noting potential for further upgrades. Nvidia's strong earnings and guidance boosted shares, with analysts highlighting robust demand and addressing investor concerns. Nvidia's results positively impacted suppliers like Micron.

Nvidia shares rose 6% premarket after projecting 70% revenue growth for next fiscal year, citing sustained AI spending. The company reported $96.2B in Q2 revenue, driven by $89B in data center sales. Analysts raised price targets, citing AI demand beyond hyperscalers and cloud revenue-sharing potential. Nvidia trades at 17.9x forward earnings, below AMD and Intel.

Nvidia reportedly agreed to acquire open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, according to The Information. The deal would expand Nvidia's presence in the AI software ecosystem. Nvidia's shares rose 4% in after-hours trading following its earnings report. Nvidia has previously made significant deals, including a $20 billion licensing agreement with Groq. A fund manager noted that the acquisition aligns with Nvidia's strategy to integrate across the entire AI stack.

Nvidia reported Q2 revenue of $96.2bn, up 18% from Q1 and 106% year-over-year, with a gross margin of 75%. The company returned $26bn to shareholders and announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend. CEO Jensen Huang highlighted accelerating AI demand. Q3 forecast was provided.