Nvidia Stock Had a Blockbuster Q1 Amid AI-Driven Frenzy—Watch This Key Chart Pattern

Artificial intelligence (AI) market darling Nvidia (NVDA) starred on Wall Street in the first quarter of 2024, with investors bidding up the AI chipmaker’s stock amid insatiable enterprise AI demand, a blowout quarterly earnings report, and the unveiling of its next generation Blackwell platform. 

Early in the quarter, the Santa Clara, California-based company benefited from an accelerating investor frenzy in AI stocks as enterprises beefed up spending on AI infrastructure to meet the technology’s continued widespread adoption. Its stock climbed to a new all-time high (ATH) in early February after investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) lifted its price target on the shares based on its AI prospects and the chipmaker’s ability to innovate. “We believe Nvidia will remain as the industry gold standard for the foreseeable future, given its robust hardware and software offerings and, importantly, the pace at which it continues to innovate,” the bank said.

In late February, Nvidia quelled fears of an AI-fueled stock market bubble by delivering a blowout fourth quarter earnings report that saw the chipmaker post a 265% year-over-year (YOY) jump in revenue and issue a bumper outlook, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang telling analysts “fundamentally, the conditions are excellent for continued growth” in 2025 and beyond.

The AI poster child capped of its impressive quarter by launching its next generation Blackwell platform at its highly-anticipated GTC developers conference held earlier this month, helping to solidify its dominance of the AI market. At the event it also announced key partnerships with other Magnificent Seven members, including Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL).

Looking at share price performance, Nvidia’s stock jumped 82.5% in the first quarter to $903.56, adding to its three-fold gains last year. In addition, the chipmaker’s shares registered the second highest gain in the S&P 500 over the period behind index newcomer Super Micro Computer (SMCI), which saw it shares soar more than 250%. Breaking down performance by month, Nvidia shares gained 24.2% in January, 28.6% in February, and closed out March adding 14.2%.

Taking a look at the technicals, Nvidia shares started the quarter testing the closely watched 50-day moving average (MA) before starting their remarkable trend higher. Through Thursday’s close, the price trades around 18% above the indicator, highlighting the bullish momentum surrounding the stock. 

Currently, the price continues to consolidate within a narrow channel slightly below its record high. Looking ahead, investors should monitor for breakouts in either direction of this pattern for indications where Nvidia’s stock may be headed next. A move below the bottom trendline could see a retest of the 50-day MA and possible double top formation, while a breakout above the upper trendline could see the stock continue to make new highs.

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As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities.