Nvidia (NVDA -4.05%) has been one of the best-performing stocks on the planet in recent years. In fact, over the past two years, it's soared more than 800%. There's a clear reason for this. The company has created an artificial intelligence (AI) empire, making itself the "go to" player for any customer aiming to build an AI platform. From chips to software, Nvidia has it all -- and this has helped the company deliver double- and triple-digit revenue growth quarter after quarter.

A few weeks ago, though, news from Chinese start-up DeepSeek pummeled Nvidia stock, leading to a 16% decline in one trading session. DeepSeek said it successfully trained its model using Nvidia's lower-performance chips -- and investors worried that other Nvidia customers would follow, hurting the tech giant's revenue growth.

The drop in Nvidia stock pushed valuation to its lowest level in a year, leaving Nvidia in bargain territory. Now the question is: Is Nvidia a bargain buy before its next big catalyst on Feb. 26, when it reports performance? The evidence is piling up, and here's what it shows.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia's market leadership

Nvidia's AI strengths started with its graphics processing units (GPUs), powerful chips that process multiple tasks simultaneously. The company used to primarily sell them to the video gaming market, then expanded into other areas -- including AI. These GPUs quickly dominated the AI space, and Nvidia broadened its offerings to include an entire suite of AI products and services. All of this has made Nvidia the AI market leader, attracting billions of dollars in business from the world's biggest tech companies, such as Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Alphabet, just to name a few.

And this brings me to the DeepSeek news that weighed on Nvidia stock in recent weeks. As I mentioned earlier, since DeepSeek was reportedly able to train a model with a cheaper, lower-performance Nvidia chip, investors speculated that tech giants may go that route, too. That could hurt demand for Nvidia's most recently launched products and be disastrous for Nvidia's revenue and profit.

Now, let's look to the catalyst ahead and consider what the latest evidence is telling us about the company and the stock. On Feb. 26, Nvidia will report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2025 full-year earnings. And, importantly, investors will get the latest update on the company's release of a potentially game-changing product: its new Blackwell architecture.

The Blackwell launch

Nvidia released Blackwell during the fourth quarter and predicted it would bring in several billion dollars in revenue right out of the gate. Blackwell is a customizable architecture including several different chips and networking configurations and more. It's designed to help customers gain in efficiency and includes many features to boost performance, making improvements in system reliability and security, for example.

Two very clear pieces of evidence regarding Nvidia's future have to do with demand. In recent weeks, top Nvidia customers such as Meta and Alphabet have announced increased AI spending, suggesting the DeepSeek news didn't prompt them to change their plans about investment in this area.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg spoke of "the hundreds of billions of dollars that we will invest in AI infrastructure over the long term" during his company's earnings call. Alphabet said that in 2025 it expects $75 billion in capital expenditures, and much of this will support AI growth.

And in recent days, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said he and his team have spoken with Nvidia AI customers, and none of them have changed AI investment plans. The DeepSeek news apparently didn't weigh on demand for Nvidia's latest chips either -- demand still surpasses supply.

What history shows

Finally, a look at stock performance after the latest earnings reports shows that Nvidia stock fell two times out of three in the month following the earnings announcement. Nvidia shares don't necessarily soar immediately after the company's earnings reports -- even though each time they've been positive and surpassed analysts' estimates. So, if history is a guide, Nvidia stock may not rise in the month after a strong earnings report.

Now, let's get back to our question: Is Nvidia a bargain buy before Feb. 26? The evidence above shows that, while it's possible the stock may stagnate or fall after the report, there still may be plenty of good news to trigger gains. And even if Nvidia stock doesn't score an immediate gain, it's likely to win over the long term. Demand for the company's products remains strong, the DeepSeek news hasn't changed Nvidia's growth story, and today Nvidia trades at bargain levels -- at 31 times forward earnings estimates.

All of this means Nvidia makes a great AI stock to buy ahead of Feb. 26. If the stock rises or falls after the report, that's OK. What's most important is this player has the earnings strength to help the shares roar higher in the quarters and years to come.