TD Cowen analyst Joshua Buchalter reiterated his “Buy” rating on Nvidia (NVDA) stock ahead of the chip giant’s second-quarter fiscal 2026 results. He also raised his price target from $175 to $235, implying 33.8% upside potential from current levels. Buchalter believes Nvidia is “best positioned to clear a high bar” going into earnings. In contrast, he remains more balanced on peers Broadcom (AVGO), Marvell Technology (MRVL), and Credo Technology (CRDO).
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Buchalter ranks #1,690 out of 9,987 analysts tracked on TipRanks. He has a 57% success rate and an average return per rating of 8.60%.
Nvidia Is the Best Way to Gain AI Exposure
Buchalter pointed to Nvidia’s strong fundamentals and a clean narrative as the semiconductor earnings season kicks off. Despite the chaos and uncertainty surrounding Nvidia’s H20 chips and China export restrictions, he maintains that NVDA is still the “best and cleanest way to play artificial intelligence (AI).”
He is also optimistic about a rapid and smooth transition from Nvidia’s Blackwell to the Blackwell Ultra platform, both of which are next-generation GPU (Graphics Processing Units) architectures designed to advance AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
Importantly, Buchalter noted that NVDA trades at a discount to AVGO, despite offering what he considers a cleaner investment setup. TipRanks data shows Nvidia trades at 58.1x earnings (price-to-earnings) P/E ratio, while Broadcom trades at 115.2x, making Nvidia look cheaper in comparison.
Nvidia’s Results Could Beat Expectations
Nvidia is scheduled to report its second-quarter results after the market closes on August 27. The Street expects the company to post adjusted EPS of $1.00 on revenue of $45.81 billion.
Notably, Buchalter left his October-quarter revenue estimate of $55 billion unchanged, which is above the Street’s forecast. He excluded H20-related revenue because of uncertainty about its timing and scale. Moreover, he noted that his 2026 revenue estimates may still be higher than Wall Street’s, even after considering lower data center sales to China.
Buchalter also pointed out that when NVDA stock was trading near $150, investors were expecting earnings per share of $6 in 2026. Now, with the stock trading around $180, he believes EPS expectations could move higher toward $7. The analyst expects Nvidia to show clearer progress toward that $7 EPS target in the next two to three quarters.
Is NVDA Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
On TipRanks, NVDA stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 35 Buys, two Holds, and one Sell rating. The average Nvidia price target of $194.82 implies 10.9% upside potential from current levels. Year-to-date, NVDA stock has gained 30.8%.
