NVIDIA stock rises 17% over three months amid analyst coverage

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Oct 1, 2026, 13:40 UTC

Between late September and early October 2026, NVIDIA's stock recorded a 17% gain over a three-month window, prompting Yahoo Finance to ask whether investors should still buy in at current levels. Around the same time, Deutsche Bank issued a buy rating on FormFactor, a company described as an NVIDIA supplier, sending FormFactor's stock sharply higher. The Motley Fool ran comparative pieces weighing NVIDIA against Broadcom and AMD against SK Hynix as competing options for technology investors in 2026, framing the moment as one where capital allocation choices in the AI chip sector are actively contested.

The 17% gain matters because it arrives against a backdrop of sustained debate about whether AI infrastructure spending justifies the valuations that leading chipmakers now carry. A move of that size over three months is large enough to raise questions about whether the rally reflects genuine earnings momentum or anticipation running ahead of results. The Deutsche Bank call on FormFactor adds another layer, since supplier ratings can signal analyst confidence in the broader AI hardware supply chain, not just in any single company. The Broadcom comparison is also pointed, as Broadcom has positioned its custom chip business as a direct alternative to NVIDIA for certain hyperscaler customers.

None of the three camps, Pro-AI, Anti-AI, or Middle Ground, have published specific reactions to this story. Pro-AI voices would typically treat a 17% gain and positive analyst coverage as validation that AI hardware demand is durable and that the market is correctly pricing in continued infrastructure buildout. Anti-AI observers would likely argue that the rally is speculative, driven by hype rather than fundamentals, and that comparisons to rivals like Broadcom or AMD reveal how crowded and fragile the thesis has become. Middle Ground commentators would probably focus on the supplier angle and the comparative analyses as evidence that investors are beginning to discriminate more carefully within the sector rather than buying the AI trade as a monolith.

The argument will sharpen when NVIDIA reports its next quarterly earnings, which would either confirm that revenue and margins support the current price level or give critics the data point they need to call the rally overextended. Analyst price target revisions following any earnings release would be the next concrete signal to watch.