Why did Nvidia stock jump up today? Strong Q4, guidance leads to praise
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Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares soared more than 14% on Thursday as the semiconductor giant posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results and guidance, with Wall Street analysts praising the chip maker. 
Susquehanna analyst Christopher Rolland, who has a positive rating on Nvidia (NVDA), noted that the results from gaming more than offset any concerns about data center, while adding that all four segments - gaming, professional visualization, automotive and embedded and data center - should see future growth. 
Looking ahead, Nvidia (NVDA) said it expects first-quarter sales to $6.5B, plus or minus 2%. Analysts expect the company to report $6.35B in sales.
Rolland also noted that the company's gross margins were intact and operating expenses were guided to be around flat over the next few quarters.
"In short, this update was better than feared, perhaps indicating the worst for NVIDIAâs business is past," Rolland, who has a per-share price target of $265 on Nvidia (NVDA), wrote in a note to clients.
Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to buy after the results, citing the fact the Jensen Huang-led company is taking wallet share in the data center and gaming has normalized.
"Looking ahead, ... we believe the combination of positive estimate revisions and a potential expansion in the stockâs multiple - consistent with historical recovery phases - will drive continued outperformance in the stock," Hari wrote.
Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore, who has an equal-weight rating and per-share price target of $255 on Nvidia (NVDA), said GPUs are still an area of "relative strength" in the cloud. 
"We have been waiting for a pullback to make a more timely call given the surge in the stock, but with weaker numbers out of the way, we would concede aren't sure that pullback is going to come; we would maintain a market weight position in the stock and will continue to look for opportunity," Moore wrote.
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it had signed a deal with Nvidia (NVDA) to bring its Xbox PC games to Nvidia's GeForce Now streaming service.