What happened
The stock of Nvidia (NVDA 3.30%) was sliding again today after an analyst cut his price target for the semiconductor company. Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar thinks sales of Nvidia's GPUs could slide as consumers cut back on spending, cryptocurrency mining slows, and other macro events hurt demand.
The tech stock was down 3.5% as of 10:43 a.m. ET today.
So what
Kumar said in an investor note, "We revise our estimates downward for NVDA based on continued issues in China and Russia, gaming laptop weakness, consumer pressure, and our concerns on crypto."
Image source: Getty Images.
Nvidia stopped selling chips in Russia after the country invaded Ukraine, and spending for chips in China has slowed due to ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns there. Kumar also said that he expects U.S. consumers to cut back on spending because of economic concerns.
Referencing the crypto market, Kumar said in the investor note, "We suspect that there is a strong likelihood that with the meltdown in crypto, some of the industrial miners could sell some of their excess capacity into the secondhand marketplace for GPUs, which may also hinder sales."
While the analyst cut his price target for Nvidia's shares, he maintained his overweight rating for the stock.
Now what
Investors have fled technology stocks this year on fears that rising inflation -- and the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes in response to it -- will slow the economy. With Kumar's note today, it appears some investors agree that the pain isn't yet over for Nvidia.
One positive point Kumar did mention, though, is that he believes Nvidia's data center segment is on a "solid footing" right now.
