The U.S. stock market showed rare restraint: the S&P 500 index closed nearly unchanged, despite NVIDIA delivering a quarterly report that significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations.
The main session closed at 7,675.70 points, just a few points from the opening level. Investors preferred to take a wait-and-see stance, studying fresh inflation data and avoiding large positions ahead of the major tech giant's earnings release.
Inflation offered no reason for optimism
The core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index (Core PCE) for July showed a 0.2% month-over-month increase and a 3.3% year-over-year rise, fully matching analyst forecasts. However, the headline PCE reading came in slightly above expectations: 0.2% for the month and 3.7% for the year, exceeding the consensus forecast by 0.1 percentage points.
These figures gave the Federal Reserve no new reason to tighten policy, but they also did not ease market tensions. Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds last week reached levels not seen in nearly 20 years, and although a slight decline followed, tech stocks managed only a partial recovery. Under such conditions, the market remained highly vulnerable to any disappointment.
NVIDIA: outstanding results, muted reaction
NVIDIA shares closed the main session at $209.66, down 1.59%. However, after the report was released, the stock surged sharply, reaching $218.72 — a gain of 4.32%.
The company's quarterly revenue reached $96.2 billion, up 106% year-over-year, significantly exceeding forecasts around $92 billion. Earnings per share came in at $2.22 versus the expected $2.09, more than doubling last year's figure of $1.05. Gross margin held at an impressive 75%, although the company expects a slight decline to 74% in the next quarter.
Segment results deserve special attention: revenue from hyperscalers more than doubled, reaching $48.7 billion, while the AI cloud and enterprise solutions division brought in $40.3 billion — 138% more than the previous result.
CEO Jensen Huang noted that demand is accelerating and AI has "passed the inflection point," generating real revenue. However, the market did not fully share this optimism. S&P 500 futures remained cautious: investors weighed the strong report against concerns about the index being overvalued and overly dependent on AI stocks.
This is not the first time NVIDIA has beaten expectations but failed to sustain gains in its stock price. To justify the current high valuation, the market requires increasingly bold forecasts. Since the start of 2026, the stock has gained rather modestly compared to previous years.
My view: NVIDIA's strong earnings confirm the fundamental strength of the AI sector, but the market is clearly signaling saturation. The S&P 500's next move will be determined not so much by corporate results as by Fed rhetoric — Kevin Warsh's speech in Jackson Hole on Friday could be a key trigger for a reassessment of risks.