With earnings season on deck, Oppenheimer has called out several semiconductor stocks as its top picks, including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL), and Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR).
Analyst Rick Schafer said in a note to clients that despite trade-related uncertainty and a challenging macro environment, artificial intelligence remains the strongest and most reliable growth driver for the sector. He noted that many chipmakers could see upside this quarter due to early ordering driven by tariff concerns. However, Schafer expects company outlooks to reflect ongoing trade war uncertainty and limited visibility into the second half of the year.
Nvidia, in particular, is expected to have sold roughly 40,000 NVL72 units during the quarter, despite a slow start. That comes as cloud service providers are still forecast to boost capital spending by 40% in 2025.
While most chips are currently exempt from new tariffs under the Trump administration, Schafer warned that additional sector-specific duties may still be introduced. If so, that could dampen consumer demand for products like smartphones and PCs.
Amid broader market volatility, Schafer also trimmed his price targets on several names, including Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI), Marvell, NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI), Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO), and Monolithic Power, citing valuation compression.
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