Piper Sandler raised Nvidia’s price target to $225, projecting a 23% upside ahead of Q2 earnings

Piper Sandler has raised Nvidia’s price target from $180 to $225, calling for a 23% upside before the chipmaker reports Q2 earnings on August 27.

The firm kept its overweight rating on the stock. Analyst Harsh Kumar said he expects another solid quarter. Even though their models are “in-line for the July quarter and slightly under Street estimates for October,” Harsh said they still believe the numbers will come in strong based on demand from U.S. hyperscalers and renewed sales from China.

Harsh explained that demand continues to outweigh Nvidia’s supply capacity. He said the company is “still in a situation where demand is greater than supply and that’s likely to stay that way for the rest of the year.” He also mentioned U.S. HPC buyers are snapping up chips faster than Nvidia can ship them.

The gap is getting wider because of delays tied to model changes and the slower-than-expected launch of the GB200 systems.

Analysts expect strong Q2 numbers despite supply pressure

Nvidia shares are already up more than 26% in 2025, and Wall Street remains bullish. Out of 65 analysts tracked by LSEG, 58 rate Nvidia a buy or strong buy. The company is expected to report $1 in non-GAAP EPS and $45.76 billion in revenue, based on numbers from FactSet.

That’s a sharp jump from $0.68 EPS and $30.04 billion in revenue reported in the same period last year. Nvidia’s own guidance for Q2 was around $45 billion, plus or minus 2%, and it included the hit from previously frozen H20 GPU sales to China.

Those Chinese sales are back now, but with a cost. The U.S. government approved H20 and MI308 GPU exports to China, but added a 15% tariff on all shipments. Investors are watching closely to see how this affects Q2 profit margins and whether China will contribute more revenue in Q3 and beyond.

Margins were already dented by a big one-time charge last quarter linked to unsold H20 chips, which pushed adjusted gross margin down to 71.3%. Nvidia leadership has said they expect gross margin to recover to the mid-70s later this year. Investors are waiting to see if that guidance holds during the Q2 call.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs made its own move. Analyst James Schneider raised his target for Nvidia from $185 to $200, calling for a 9.5% gain. He maintained a buy rating, but warned investors to watch a few key developments that could shift sentiment fast. His note flagged areas like supply chain strain, hyperscaler purchases, and how quickly Nvidia can ship its biggest new systems.

Nvidia’s roadmap will be tested this quarter

The main area of concern is Nvidia’s new GB200 and NVL systems. These are massive rack-scale setups like the NVL36 and NVL72, with higher pricing and more complex delivery timelines. Investors want to hear when shipments will begin and how fast adoption is picking up.

They’ll also want updates on whether sales for these units will boost Q3 revenue. Right now, delays caused by rack model changes are creating uncertainty.

Demand from big tech firms isn’t slowing. Google increased its full-year AI capex to $85 billion, while Microsoft expects to spend $30 billion in Q3 alone. If Nvidia isn’t already in the backlog for these orders, people will want to know why. Piper’s Harsh said investor sentiment is being driven by exactly that; hyperscaler activity and China access.

On the networking side, Nvidia reported $4.9 billion in Q1 revenue. Any increase in Q2 will suggest greater adoption of the new GB200 line and the AI infrastructure required to run it. If those numbers fall flat, it could raise red flags about whether buyers are waiting on delayed shipments or shifting to other vendors.

Software will also get attention. Nvidia has been working on monetizing its AI Enterprise platform and NIM microservices, especially through Amazon’s AWS Marketplace. Analysts want figures on usage, contracts, and how much revenue these services are actually pulling in. Investors want proof that the software business isn’t just marketing noise.

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