Nvidia (NVDA -2.61%) stock continued to advance in last month's trading. The artificial intelligence (AI) leader's share price closed out June's trading up 12.7%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. It's now up roughly 159% year to date.
Nvidia stock has been on an incredible rally thanks to strong earnings results and excitement about untapped AI opportunities on Wall Street. The stock continued to receive a valuation boost thanks to favorable analyst coverage in June. Shares also benefited from bullish momentum for the broader market in the period.
Nvidia climbs on bullish market backdrop, analyst coverage, and AI opportunities
The S&P 500 index's level closed out June's trading up roughly 3.5%, and Nvidia's share price also climbed in conjunction with the bullish trend. Notably, there wasn't much in the way of dramatic, business-specific news for the company last month. But an array of analysts issued upward price-target revisions for the stock, and overall demand indicators in the AI space continued to look promising.
Truist published a note on June 27, raising its one-year price target on Nvidia stock from $128 per share to $140 per share. The firm maintained a buy rating on the stock. The day before, Citigroup analyst Atif Malik published a note maintaining a buy rating on the stock and increasing his one-year target on the stock from $126.
Meanwhile, Rosenblatt was even more effusively bullish earlier in the month. The firm raised its one-year price target from $140 per share to $200 per share thanks to the strength of its existing and upcoming processor platforms. If the stock were to hit Rosenblatt's target, that would suggest upside of roughly 56% compared to the stock's closing price.
Nvidia is the leading provider of graphics processing units (GPUs) that are used to power advanced artificial intelligence applications. As demand for AI services and other cloud computing technologies have surged, Nvidia has seen incredible sales and earnings growth. In turn, this has helped power massive growth for the company's valuation. Nvidia currently has a market cap of roughly $3.04 trillion and ranks as the world's third most valuable company, trailing behind only Microsoft and Apple.
What comes next for Nvidia stock?
Nvidia stock has continued to gain ground early in July's trading. The company's share price is up 3.7% in the month so far. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index's level is up roughly 2.1%.
For the second quarter of its current fiscal year, which concludes at the end of this month, Nvidia is guiding for revenue of roughly $28 billion. If the processing specialist were to hit that target, it would mean delivering growth of roughly 107% compared to results in the prior-year period. It would also mean delivering sequential quarterly growth of roughly 8% compared to the $26 billion in sales the business posted in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Nvidia is the clear-cut leader in the advanced GPU market, and it looks poised to enjoy strong demand tailwinds and retain top position in the AI processor space for the foreseeable future.
