Nvidia hits record high as AI optimism, buyback lift shares

A California business owner, Greg Lui, was arrested for allegedly smuggling $300M worth of Nvidia chips to China without proper export licenses, violating US regulations. The hardware, including A100 and H100 GPUs, was shipped via Malaysia and Singapore to evade US export controls. The US government accuses Lui of knowingly circumventing laws to supply advanced AI technology to China. Lui faces charges with a maximum sentence of 50 years.

Amazon (AMZN) is reportedly considering spinning off $8 billion worth of Nvidia (NVDA) AI chips into a special purpose vehicle, according to The Financial Times. The move would allow Amazon to lease the chips back, avoiding depreciating assets on its balance sheet. The chips are already installed in data centers across five states. Amazon and Nvidia shares were up about 2% in recent trading, with Amazon up 10% and Nvidia up 27% year-to-date.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ surged in a morning rally led by tech stocks. NVIDIA reached a new intraday high of $237.00. On Semiconductor revised its all-cash acquisition of Synaptics to $5.7 billion. Gasoline prices in the U.S. declined.

Nvidia (NVDA) stock reached a new all-time high of $237.55, with a market cap of $5.7 trillion. The company reported Q2 revenue of $96.2 billion, exceeding expectations, and forecast Q3 sales between $105.8 billion and $110.1 billion. Nvidia's growth is driven by AI infrastructure spending, but faces competition and questions about market sustainability.

U.S. stocks rose Friday, nearing record highs, after a jobs report eased inflation concerns. The S&P 500 gained 0.9%, the Dow added 0.4%, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.4%. The report showed 29,000 jobs added, below expectations, reducing Fed rate hike bets to 18%. Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year yield at 5.20%. Nvidia and Tesla gained, while Nike dropped 6% on weak revenue and forecasts.

Semi-Tech Leasing, a Chinese state-backed firm, financed purchases of Nvidia's restricted B300 AI chips for Glory View Technology, totaling $440 million. The servers were deployed in a China Mobile data center. Nvidia and Asustek are investigating the report, which was later redacted by Semi-Tech Leasing.