Investment bank Morgan Stanley on Friday issued a bullish report on artificial intelligence chipmakers, calling Nvidia stock a top pick for 2025.
The firm also raised its price targets on AI chip stocks Astera Labs, Broadcom and Marvell Technology, all of which it rates as overweight, or buy. It kept its overweight ratings on Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia, though it trimmed its price targets on both.
AMD and Nvidia make graphics processing units, or GPUs, optimized for AI applications in data centers. Broadcom and Marvell make custom AI chips for hyperscale cloud service providers. Astera makes high-speed connectivity chips for AI data centers.
Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore said investors have grown cautious on Nvidia stock recently because of near-term concerns. Those concerns include slowing demand for current-generation Hopper series products and possible delays and supply constraints for next-generation Blackwell series products.
Another concern is GPUs facing increased competition from application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, from Broadcom and Marvell.
Moore said some of the concerns are overstated and others will be irrelevant longer term.
The next catalyst for Nvidia stock could be a keynote speech by Chief Executive Jensen Huang at the CES tech trade show in Las Vegas on Jan. 6.
Moore said Huang's message at the show likely will be: "Blackwell demand is exceptional, but supply constrained."
Nvidia Stock Rises After Reassuring Report
On the stock market today, Nvidia stock rose 3.1% to close at 134.70.
In his report, Moore trimmed his price target on Nvidia stock to 166 from 168. He also lowered his price target on AMD stock to 158 from 169.
At the same time, he raised his price target on Astera Labs to 142 from 94. He upped his target on Broadcom to 265 from 233 and on Marvell to 120 from 102.
On Friday, AMD stock increased 0.3% to close at 119.21. Astera Labs climbed 5.5% to 132.17. Broadcom advanced 1.1% to 220.79. Marvell rose 2.6% to 111.90.
Nvidia stock is on two IBD lists: Leaderboard and Tech Leaders.
Astera Labs is on four IBD stock lists: Leaderboard, Tech Leaders, IBD 50 and IPO Leaders.
Broadcom stock is two lists: Big Cap 20 and Tech Leaders.
Follow Patrick Seitz on X, formerly Twitter, at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
