NVIDIA's (NVDA 2.84%) recent deal with Daimler unit Mercedes-Benz could provide some real acceleration for the IT company, particularly on its bottom line.
That's the opinion of analyst Stacy Rasgon at AllianceBernstein's (AB 0.30%) Bernstein Research. He estimates the arrangement could ultimately bring in anywhere from $2.0 billion to $2.5 billion in revenue, and $2.50 to $3.00 in per-share earnings to NVIDIA"s results. For comparison, in fiscal 2020 the company booked just over $10.9 billion in revenue, while its GAAP earnings were $4.52 per share.
Image source: Mercedes-Benz (Daimler).
Mercedes-Benz is the largest luxury auto maker in the world, so NVIDIA is partnering with a company that not only has strong sales for the segment (almost 2.4 million vehicles sold in 2019), but also serves a relatively affluent customer base. Such clientele would likely be more willing to buy premium software offerings to make their drives more comfortable and/or entertaining.
The new deal between the two companies was announced last week. They will collaborate on developing a state-of-the-art computing platform built on NVIDIA'S DRIVE technology.
NVIDIA wrote in its press release on the arrangement that the platform will be "first-of-its-kind software-defined computing architecture that includes the most powerful computer, system software and applications for consumers, marking the turning point of traditional vehicles becoming high-performance, updateable computing devices."
Interestingly, the Bernstein analyst did not change either his price target or recommendation on NVIDIA stock. Rasgon still believes it is worth $415 per share -- 13% higher than its most recent closing price -- and is worthy of an outperform rating.
On Friday, NVIDIA's shares ended the day 3.5% lower, a steeper fall than that experienced by the broader stock market and many peer tech stocks.
