Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) shares surged Wednesday after a report from NPR indicated the U.S. government is delaying an export ban that would have blocked shipments of its H20 graphics processing units to China.
The H20 is Nvidia's most advanced AI chip currently eligible for export to the Chinese market. Industry watchers had widely expected it to be added to the list of restricted hardware, especially after earlier bans on other high-performance processors.
Major Chinese tech companies, including Alibaba (BABA, Financial), Tencent (TCEHY, Financial), and ByteDance (BDNCE), reportedly placed over $16 billion in H20 chip orders in early 2025, anticipating tighter controls.
The chip is a step down from Nvidia's newer Blackwell line, which the company offers in markets outside of China. Despite that, demand for the H20 has remained strong due to its AI capabilities.
NPR also reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently attended a high-level fundraising dinner with former President Donald Trump. Following that event, Nvidia is said to have proposed new U.S.-based investments in artificial intelligence data centers. Nvidia declined to comment on the report.
Separately, Trump announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs for most U.S. trade partners — a move that helped lift broader market sentiment. China, however, was excluded from the pause and is now facing a 125% tariff rate under the new policy.
Semiconductor stocks across the board rallied in response. Companies such as Qualcomm (QCOM, Financial), Marvell Technology (MRVL, Financial), Qorvo (QRVO, Financial), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financial) all posted strong gains. Intel (INTC, Financial), On Semiconductor (ON, Financial), Microchip Technology (MCHP, Financial), Texas Instruments (TXN, Financial), and Analog Devices (ADI, Financial) also climbed, as easing trade pressures boosted investor confidence across the chip sector.
