The chipmaker that Wall Street had written off just delivered the spark Nvidia needed. Intel’s blockbuster quarterly report—first-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.58 billion, well ahead of analyst expectations—triggered a chain reaction that pushed Nvidia’s market capitalization past the $5 trillion threshold for the first time. The stock closed Friday at €177.66, up nearly 5% on the day and within 1% of its 52-week high.
The logic behind the rally is straightforward but powerful. When data center operators ramp up spending on Intel’s central processors, they almost invariably place matching orders for Nvidia’s graphics chips. Intel’s data center chip revenue jumped 22% year-over-year, a surge that the market interpreted as a direct confirmation that enterprise demand for AI infrastructure remains red-hot. For Intel itself, the reaction was historic: its shares recorded their best single trading day since 1987.
The $700 Billion Question Hangs Over Big Tech Earnings
The coming week represents the most concentrated stretch of the technology earnings season, and it will serve as a high-stakes referendum on Nvidia’s valuation. Four hyperscalers—Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon—are scheduled to report results, and their collective capital expenditure plans for 2026 approach $700 billion. Every adjustment to those budgets will ripple directly through Nvidia’s stock.
Alphabet and Meta carry particular weight. Alphabet has penciled in spending of up to $185 billion for 2026, while Meta raised its ceiling to $135 billion. These are not abstract commitments; they translate directly into orders for Nvidia’s Blackwell chip generation. The challenge for both companies is proving that their revenue growth can justify the scale of these investments. Microsoft’s Azure cloud business will face especially intense scrutiny, with investors demanding evidence that the infrastructure spending is translating into tangible returns.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Nvidia?
The stakes could not be higher for Nvidia. If the hyperscalers reaffirm their spending plans, the fundamental case for the stock’s 90% year-to-date gain remains intact. If they signal cuts, Nvidia’s May earnings guidance could come under immediate pressure.
Nvidia’s Own Report Card Arrives May 20
Nvidia itself reports fiscal first-quarter 2027 results on May 20, with management guiding for revenue of approximately $78 billion. Analysts are projecting triple-digit earnings growth year-over-year, underpinned by a smooth ramp of the Blackwell architecture and sustained demand for the older Hopper generation.
Two risks hang over the narrative. The first is China. Nvidia has excluded all revenue from Chinese data centers from its guidance, a direct consequence of ongoing US export restrictions on advanced chips. In the prior year, that region contributed $17.1 billion. The second is a lingering legal overhang: a class-action lawsuit alleging that management concealed the company’s dependence on the cryptocurrency market in 2018 is currently before the San Francisco appeals court.
For now, the market is betting that the hyperscaler spending wave will drown out these concerns. The next few days will deliver the hard data that either validates or undermines that bet.
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