While Wall Street's price targets shouldn't be the only factor retail investors weigh when researching potential investments, they are great to look at for validation that you're looking in the right places. It's a red flag for me if a stock that I'm considering has poor analyst projections, as it may tell me that I haven't quite learned enough about the company to understand why others think its upside is so low.
However, one that interests me now is a stock that Wall Street analysts believe has huge one-year growth potential: Nvidia (NVDA 1.45%). Anyone who follows artificial intelligence (AI) investing is likely already aware of this stock, as are many non-AI investors. It has been one of the top-performing stocks over the past few years thanks to its position in the AI landscape. With massive projected top-line growth ahead, it should come as no surprise that Nvidia's price target from the average Wall Street analyst is sky-high.
Image source: Getty Images.
Nvidia's stock has huge upside, according to analysts
Currently, Nvidia's stock trades at about $185 per share. That's about 10% below its all-time high. However, Wall Street analysts covering the company expect monster growth over the next year, with an average price target of $253.62. That indicates a one-year upside of 37%.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
If you want an even more bullish projection, one analyst has a price target of $352 per share on Nvidia stock, which is slightly less than double what it is now. But are those realistic projections?
More growth ahead
Several AI hyperscalers have announced their 2026 capital expenditure plans for AI data centers, and the numbers are jaw-dropping. While Nvidia won't get all of this spending, it will capture a nice chunk. This supports the impressive growth projections for it this year: The Wall Street consensus is that Nvidia will report about $213 billion in revenue for its fiscal 2026, which ended late last month. Analysts further forecast that it will grow its revenue by 53% in fiscal 2027 to $326 billion. If Nvidia can maintain its 53% profit margin, that would amount to $173 billion in profits.
NVDA Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts.
At a price-to-earnings ratio of 40 -- lower than it currently sports -- that would give Nvidia a market cap of $6.9 trillion, or upside of 53%. However, its actual earnings multiple at that point could be different depending on how bullish or bearish the market is on AI spending a year from now.
Regardless, there's a pretty clear-cut bull case for Nvidia. In my view, it's one of the best AI stocks to buy in February.
