Nvidia (NVDA) eked out a modest gain Monday but continued to trail the broader semiconductor sector, as investor enthusiasm for AI infrastructure shifted toward a wider array of chipmakers and a new report flagged a significant delay in the company's next-generation architecture.
The stock rose 0.5% to $195.86 in early trading, far behind the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), which surged 4.3%. Leading the sector were Western Digital (up 10%), Teradyne (up 8%), Advanced Micro Devices (up ~10%), and Intel (up ~6%). Marvell Technology and Oracle also traded higher.
While Nvidia remains the dominant supplier of AI graphics processors, its shares have underperformed many peers in recent months. Investors are increasingly rotating into memory chips, central processing units, semiconductor equipment makers, and custom AI silicon, betting that future AI spending will be distributed across a broader range of companies rather than concentrated on Nvidia alone. This rotation has left Nvidia lagging even as enthusiasm for AI infrastructure remains strong across the sector.
Adding to investor caution, research firm SemiAnalysis reported that Nvidia's next-generation Kyber rack-scale architecture has been delayed by more than a year. Kyber, designed to house Nvidia's Rubin Ultra chips, is now expected to launch in 2028 instead of 2027. The system is intended to combine 144 of Nvidia's most advanced chips into a single computing system for AI workloads. According to SemiAnalysis, the delay stems from manufacturing challenges involving a critical printed circuit board (PCB) used in the architecture. "Kyber NVL144 rack architecture has been delayed to 2028 as the PCB midplane remains challenging from a manufacturability standpoint," the research firm said. Nvidia has not commented on the report.
The Kyber delay is the latest in a series of challenges surrounding Nvidia's next-generation product roadmap. It comes as the company faces growing competition from rivals like AMD and Intel, as well as from custom AI chip efforts by hyperscalers. For more on the competitive landscape, see Intel and AMD Surge Past Nvidia in H1 2026: Can the Momentum Last Into H2?
Despite the near-term headwinds, Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on Nvidia and maintained a $285 price target. The investment bank said investors are likely to focus on several key issues in upcoming quarters, including potential upside to Nvidia's previously outlined $1 trillion data center opportunity, growth in its server CPU business driven by agentic AI, competitive dynamics across the AI infrastructure market, and gross margin trends as component costs increase. Goldman Sachs expects Nvidia to deliver a "beat-and-raise" quarter, supported by favorable industry supply and demand trends. However, the firm acknowledged that expectations remain elevated and that the threshold for meaningful stock outperformance is high.
According to Goldman Sachs, Nvidia's valuation now trades at a meaningful discount relative to its historical levels following the stock's recent lagging performance. The firm believes the shares could command a higher valuation multiple if hyperscalers demonstrate improving profitability while continuing to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, enterprise adoption of agentic AI accelerates, and investors gain greater visibility into deployments beyond the company's traditional customer base. Goldman Sachs also raised its earnings estimates by roughly 12% on average, with its updated calendar-year 2026 and 2027 forecasts standing 14% and 34%, respectively, above broader Wall Street expectations. The bank said it expects further earnings estimate revisions and multiple expansion to support Nvidia shares over the next 12 months, noting that the company has still generated a 78% return over the past year while delivering revenue growth of 65%, despite its recent underperformance relative to the broader semiconductor sector.
For context on the broader market rotation, see US Stock Funds See $17.2B Weekly Outflow, Largest Since March: Rally Fatigue? and Nvidia Faces H2 2026 Test: Can Vera Rubin, Software Edge Offset Competition?
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
