Nvidia (NVDA) is stepping into its much-anticipated annual GTC conference with the spotlight firmly on its shares. Scheduled to take place from March 16–19 in San Jose, California, the event is expected to serve as a crucial catalyst not just for Nvidia, but potentially setting the stage for a notable shift across the semiconductor sector.
With market momentum on the rise, Wells Fargo analysts, led by Aaron Rakers, have voiced their optimistic stance. They assert that they are “NVDA buyers ahead of the event,” highlighting a historical trend where Nvidia typically enjoys a robust three-month period post-GTC. Historically, the company’s stock has outperformed the SOX semiconductor index by an impressive average of 30%, with outperformance ranging from a solid 12% to an astonishing 45%.
The optimism is echoed by analysts at Bank of America, who have reiterated their Buy rating alongside an ambitious $300 price target. They note that NVDA is currently trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of just 17, which is near a historical low following a lucrative ramp of the Blackwell product line that has generated close to $500 billion in cumulative sales.
During the GTC event, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang is poised to deliver a keynote address at 2 p.m. ET on Monday. In addition to this keynote, he will moderate an industry panel later in the week featuring heavyweights such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla. Clearly, the roster of participants underscores the industry-wide excitement surrounding the event.
From a product standpoint, Nvidia is set to unveil its second-generation co-packaged optic switch, built on Taiwan Semiconductor’s cutting-edge technology. Although mass production isn’t expected until 2027, with initial projected volumes around 80,000 units, anticipatory buzz is building. Alongside this, updates regarding the Feynman GPU line and the Kyber NVL576 rack system are also on the agenda.
Furthermore, Wells Fargo is speculating that Nvidia may enhance its projected cumulative revenue target, potentially revising it upwards from $500 billion to over $600 billion by 2026. Analysts are also keenly awaiting any updates regarding the anticipated global AI infrastructure spending, estimated to soar to $3-$4 trillion annually by 2030.
CPU Demand Takes Center Stage
On a broader technological front, a quieter, yet critical evolution is underway. The rise of Agentic AI—task-oriented AI that coordinates workflows across diverse agents—is driving an unprecedented demand for central processing units (CPUs), highlighting a significant shift from traditional AI inference requirements.
Dion Harris, Nvidia’s head of AI infrastructure, emphasized the pressing need for advanced CPU capabilities, noting that “CPUs are becoming the bottleneck in terms of growing out this AI and agentic workflow.” The company’s Vera CPU has already entered production and is operational at Meta data centers, thanks to a multiyear deal, with plans for further deployment slated for 2027.
In addition, thousands of standalone Nvidia CPUs are harnessed at prominent research institutions like the Texas Advanced Computing Center and Los Alamos National Lab. Analysts at Bank of America predict a market surge, projecting CPU market value to potentially double from $27 billion in 2025 to $60 billion by 2030.
During the GTC showcase, Nvidia is expected to exhibit a CPU-only rack, signaling the company’s serious commitment to standalone CPU deployments.
Supply Challenges Loom
However, the broader CPU market is grappling with tightening supply conditions. Both AMD and Intel have issued warnings regarding supply shortages, with customers facing delivery lead times stretching to six months and price hikes exceeding 10%, as per multiple industry reports.
Forrest Norrod, AMD’s head of data center operations, remarked on CNBC that the demand surge witnessed in the last six to nine months is “unprecedented.” Intel, for its part, anticipates its inventory will hit a record low this quarter, although the company expects conditions to improve by Q2 2026.
At present, Nvidia reports that it has not encountered significant shipment delays for its CPUs, largely due to a supply chain designed to fulfill demand in conjunction with GPU orders in complete rack-scale systems.
As of Q4 2025, market analysis by Mercury Research indicates that Nvidia holds a 6.2% share of the server CPU market, trailing behind Intel’s commanding 60% and AMD’s 24.3%. Other prominent stocks to watch as GTC unfolds include AMD, Taiwan Semiconductor, Broadcom (AVGO), Intel, and Marvell (MRVL).
