Nvidia Gains as Bristol Myers Vera-Rubin AI Factory Offsets AMD Competition and False SpaceX Rumor

Nvidia shares gain as Bristol Myers Squibb builds AI factory with Vera-Rubin systems, while Omniverse software expands. AMD's Helios poses long-term threat but Nvidia holds 95% GPU market share.

Nvidia stock clawed higher on Monday, shrugging off both a denied multibillion-dollar deal rumour and a fresh competitive salvo from AMD, as concrete customer wins in the pharmaceutical sector and an expanding software platform reinforced the bull case. The Frankfurt-listed shares ended the session at €178.10 on Xetra, while other trading venues saw a more pronounced 1.4% advance to €180.02, leaving the stock 11.1% below its 52-week high of €202.50 from May but still 8.7% above its 200-day moving average of around €165.63.

Elon Musk took to social media on 20 July to dismiss reports that SpaceX had placed a $52 billion order for roughly one million GB300 chips through Foxconn, branding the speculation "Fake News". Yet the denial did little to dampen sentiment; cloud provider QumulusAI confirmed on the same day that it had purchased 1,632 Nvidia Blackwell B300 chips to meet rising customer demand, underscoring that enterprise appetite for the GB300 series—the successor to the GB200 NVL line—remains robust.

More concretely, Bristol Myers Squibb announced a significant expansion of its multi-year collaboration with Nvidia, building one of the most powerful AI factories in the life-sciences industry. The pharmaceutical giant is deploying Nvidia's new DGX Vera?Rubin NVL72 systems, an architecture that promises up to ten times more performance per megawatt than the previous Blackwell generation. Bristol Myers intends to use the computing muscle to accelerate drug discovery across oncology, cardiovascular medicine and immunology, noting that its "Predict First" approach now guides nearly all of its small-molecule drug programmes, with AI agents identifying and validating targets before laboratory work begins.

The Vera?Rubin platform is also the focus of AMD's latest challenge. The chipmaker unveiled Helios, its first rack?scale AI system, with customers including Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI and Oracle expected to receive deliveries later this year. Helios goes head-to-head with Nvidia's Grace Blackwell and the upcoming Vera?Rubin systems. According to the Futurum Group, Nvidia still commands more than 95% of the data?centre GPU market, leaving AMD with roughly 4.5%. Futurum's CEO argued that if Helios gains traction, AMD could capture 20–25% market share in the medium term, though any meaningful shift will only become clear once the first Helios units are deployed.

Parallel to the hardware news, Nvidia used the SIGGRAPH conference to broaden its software portfolio. The company is integrating its Omniverse libraries into its proprietary Agent Toolkit, enabling developers to equip AI agents with tools for "Physical AI"—allowing autonomous systems to train and test in simulated 3D environments. Partners such as SideFX and PTC have already begun integrating the libraries to simplify CAD workflows and product data management, reinforcing Nvidia's strategy of wrapping its chip business in a sticky software ecosystem.

The broader semiconductor sector remains under pressure. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index recently entered a technical bear market, shedding roughly 10% in a single week and more than 20% from its June peak. Analysts suggest that the prolonged rally in chip stocks has made investors more selective, demanding clear evidence that the heavy capital expenditure by tech giants is translating into revenue and earnings growth. Nvidia's quasi?monopoly in AI accelerators has shielded it from the worst of the sell?off, but the sector's weakness is a reminder that no stock is immune.

Wall Street analysts, however, remain largely undeterred by the combination of sector headwinds and AMD's nascent threat. The consensus rating is "Buy", with an average price target of $324.67. KeyBanc raised its target to $330 on 14 July, reiterating an "Overweight" stance. China Renaissance initiated coverage on 5 June with a "Buy" and a $319 target, while Needham confirmed its "Buy" rating at $270 on 2 June. The optimism is backed by expectations for Nvidia's upcoming fiscal second?quarter results, due on 26 August. The Street forecasts earnings of $2.07 per share, double the prior year's $1.04, and revenue of $91.7 billion, up from $46.74 billion a year ago.

For now, Nvidia's near?term dominance appears secure, with concrete deployments like the Bristol Myers AI factory and steady hyperscaler demand providing a counterbalance to AMD's long?range ambitions. All eyes will be on the earnings report later this month, where progress on Vera?Rubin production and any further easing of export restrictions—particularly to regions such as the United Arab Emirates—could set the next leg for the stock.