Trending tickers: Nvidia, Rolls-Royce, Tesla and Intel

Pedro Goncalves

The artificial intelligence (AI) company is the number one trending ticker in pre-market trading after analysts said it could reach a $10tn valuation.

Beth Kindig, the lead tech analyst at I/O Fund, is forecasting strong growth and "fireworks" for the stock after its Blackwell advanced chip launch.

Kindig predicted that Nvidia's growth trajectory should become more apparent once Wall Street analysts upwardly revise fiscal estimates for the following year. That should be a "big moment" for Nvidia, followed by the release of shipping volume figures for Blackwell in 2025.

“That’s going to be fireworks, is how I would put it. Absolute, ultimate fireworks for Blackwell will come in first-quarter, with that second-quarter guide,” Kindig said. “Early next year will be fireworks again for Nvidia, and we will be on track for that $10tn.”

These new chips are nearly double the size of their predecessors and pack 2.6 times more transistors, which has led to significant manufacturing challenges and impacted profit margins.

Rolls-Royce shares have staged a recovery in early trading, following Cathay Pacific's announcement that it expects to have its fleet fully operational by the weekend. The Hong Kong-based airline had temporarily grounded its A350 aircraft for inspections after discovering issues with their Rolls-Royce engines.

Cathay Pacific (CPCAF) disclosed that 15 components needed replacement after a "first of its type" engine component failure forced a Zurich-bound flight to turn back on Monday. In response, the airline cancelled at least 34 round-trip flights and initiated precautionary inspections across its 48-strong fleet.

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The airline said three of the 48 Rolls-Royce-powered planes it had inspected had already gone through successful repairs and all of the jets were expected to resume operation by Saturday.

The aerospace engineering company said in a statement it was aware of the incident that caused Cathay Pacific to ground its fleet of Airbus A350 jets. It added it was committed to working closely with Cathay Pacific, Airbus (AIR.PA) and authorities conducting an investigation.

The news follows a significant drop in Rolls-Royce's market value, which saw £2.7bn wiped off on Monday when Cathay warned that "a number of aircraft will be out of service for several days." Rolls-Royce's stock has since rebounded 4.3% in early trading.

“Cathay is only planning for the grounded aircraft to remain out of service for ‘several days,’ suggesting the issue requires a fairly minor and quick fix, and therefore does not call into question the engine’s design or architecture like we saw with the Trent 1000. Indeed, Cathay has noted that spare parts have been secured and repair work is under way,” analysts at Morgan Stanley said.

Shares in the EV maker were slightly lower ahead of the US opening bell despite reporting surging sales in China.

Tesla’s August sales in China saw a 37% jump from July, hitting over 63,000 cars, thanks mainly to a boost in smaller cities. Deliveries of its China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles rose 17% from July.

However, its performance lags major Chinese rivals by a wide margin. BYD, the world's biggest EV maker, said its China passenger vehicle sales surged 35% in August from a year earlier to a record monthly high of 370,854. Other local EV competitors, including Leapmotor and Li Auto, also reported higher sales, according to Reuters.

Preliminary data from the China Passenger Car Association estimated that the total sales of electric passenger cars in China last month rose 32% from a year earlier to about 1.05 million units, an 11% increase from July.

Shares in Intel were just below the flatline after surging over 9% in the previous session after Reuters reported that the company is set to propose cost reduction measures.

The plan, which is expected to be presented in mid-September 2024, includes selling businesses such as the programmable chip unit Altera to reduce overall costs. The proposal does not yet include plans to split Intel and sell off its contract manufacturing operation, or foundry, to a buyer such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSM), according to Reuters.

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To assist with the strategic review, Intel has hired financial advisors from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

This move is part of an effort to rejuvenate the chipmaker's financial performance. Intel has faced challenges as it seeks to regain its footing in the AI chip market, which is dominated by Nvidia.

Its market capitalisation has fallen below $100bn following its second-quarter earnings report.

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