European Chip Stocks Surge After Nvidia Sales Reach New Heights on Booming AI Demand

By Mauro Orru

Shares of European semiconductor companies jumped Thursday following earlier gains in Asia after Nvidia's sales more than tripled in its fiscal fourth quarter and earnings surged more than eightfold as it scrambles to meet demand for artificial intelligence.

On Wednesday, Nvidia reported revenue of $22.10 billion for the three months ended Jan. 28, up from $6.05 billion the previous year. Net profit was $12.29 billion, compared with $1.41 billion a year earlier.

Chief Executive Jensen Huang described AI as hitting the tipping point and indicated demand for the computing power that underlies AI remained astronomical. "Demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations," Huang said.

Nvidia's results are a bellwether for the strength of the AI boom, as big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple place large bets on the technology and need Nvidia's hardware to drive them.

On Thursday, shares of European companies operating the semiconductor industry edged higher. In Germany, Infineon Technologies jumped 4%, Aixtron climbed 6.2%, while Suess Microtec rose 5.9%. In the Netherlands, BE Semiconductor Industries surged 16% after its own set of results, while ASML Holding edged 4.4% higher. Elsewhere in Europe, STMicroelectronics and Soitec are up more than 4%.

Earlier on Thursday, SoftBank Group, the parent of British chip designer Arm Holdings, advanced more than 5%, while chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron Ltd. climbed almost 6%. South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix, which supplies Nvidia, was 5% higher, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. added 1.6%.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 22, 2024 04:50 ET (09:50 GMT)

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