** Nvidia's NVDA.O strong growth forecast for the first quarter on Wednesday signaled that booming demand for its artificial intelligence chips was intact, and the company said orders for its new Blackwell semiconductors were "amazing"
** The AI bellwether's shares were down 0.6% at $130.45 in premarket trading
BLACKWELL RAMP TO LEAD THE WAY
** TD Cowen ("buy," PT: $175) expects visibility of Blackwell demand to temper concerns around its supply, as well as concerns after the "DeepSeek Moment" as Nvidia continues to make "the extraordinary seem ordinary"
** J.P.Morgan ("overweight," PT: $170) says Nvidia remains on track to ramp its next-gen Blackwell Ultra platform in 2H and overall continues to be in a tight supply environment over the next several quarters
** Jefferies ("buy," PT: $185) says supply chain to continue to improve and sees no signs of demand issues
** D.A.Davidson ("neutral," PT: $135) sees shipments to China to remain at the same level with the company noting heightened competition in the region
(Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty in Bengaluru)
((Kanchana.Chakravarty@thomsonreuters.com))

