Nvidia CEO’s ask of Taiwan Semi means more upside for this portfolio stock
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: The S & P 500 jumped nearly 1.5% on Monday, as House members were called back to Washington to vote on a Senate deal to end the longest government shutdown in history. The Nasdaq surged more than 2%. With these gains, both indexes recovered nearly all of last week’s losses. A possible end to the 41-day shutdown, which has caused massive flight delays and cancellations and shaken consumer confidence in the economy, has put investors in a more risk-taking mood. Club holding Nvidia rose nearly 5% on Monday, after losing 7% last week in a tech rout driven by worries about valuations in stocks tied to the artificial intelligence boom. Monday’s rally isn’t just about tech. Consumer discretionary and materials sectors were also strong. In fact, eight of the 11 S & P 500 sector indexes were higher. Only real estate, utilities, and consumer staples were in the red. Wafer demand: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang asked key manufacturing partner Taiwan Semiconductor to boost its wafer production, he told reporters over the weekend. This is a clear indication that Huang expects strong demand for Nvidia’s AI chips to continue. It also aligns with the “$500 billion in order visibility” comment the CEO made at the company’s GTC event a few weeks ago. Huang’s comments are obviously positive for Nvidia, but when we hear the word “wafer,” which is the basic building material used to make semiconductor chips, our mind immediately goes to the recent DuPont spinoff of Qnity Electronics. That’s because CEO Jon Kemp has repeatedly said that wafer starts are the best indicator of demand. Wafer starts refer to the number of new semiconductor wafers that initiate the manufacturing process in a fabrication plant. “Wafer starts, which are measured by MSI data, are one of the best indicators of demand for our products. You can see wafer starts have grown steadily with a long-term [compound annual growth rate] in the mid-single digits, demonstrating consistent positive growth,” Kemp said at the October Investor Day event. “Global fab capacity has steadily expanded to keep pace with that demand, increasingly driven by investments at the leading edge, which will approach $200 billion or more in coming years.” This comes as the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers’ Group, which provides market data for the silicon industry, reported last week that worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased by 3.1% year over year in the third quarter of 2025. The increase was driven by the demand for supporting AI applications. Looking ahead, SEMI expects global shipments will increase steadily through 2028. Club name Qnity stock is up about 6% on Monday, rebounding with other AI-related names. It’s unclear, however, how much of the move is tied to Huang’s comments. After all, trading in Qnity has been volatile since the spin was completed last Monday. Up next: We’ll continue to follow the events from Washington to see if a deal is made to reopen the government. On earnings, Paramount Skydance , CoreWeave , Rigetti Computing , AST SpaceMobile , Rocket Lab , and Occidental Petroleum report after the closing bell. Before the opening on Tuesday, Wall Street Nebius Group and Sea Limited will report earnings. – CNBC’s Matthew J. Belvedere contributed to this report. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
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