NVIDIA’s AI Boom: $330B Bet or Bubble? Investors Pour In as Competition Heats Up

The AI investment boom is just getting started. Tigress Financial Partners sees capital spending on AI and data centers hitting $330 billion this year—up from $250 billion in 2024—and climbing past $400 billion in 2026. That’s a massive wave of cash, and NVIDIA (NVDA, Financial) is right in the middle of it. The firm just slapped a $220 price target on the stock, implying an 80% upside from here. And there’s reason to believe it’s justified—NVIDIA’s latest earnings blew past expectations, with Q3 2025 revenue up 94% year-over-year to a record $35.1 billion, fueled by insatiable demand for its AI-dominating GPUs.

But competition is heating up fast. DeepSeek just dropped its Janus-Pro-7B model, turning up the pressure in the AI chip wars. DA Davidson isn’t convinced NVIDIA can keep its edge, maintaining a Neutral rating with a $135 price target—far below the bullish calls from UBS and Itau BBA. Retail traders aren’t fazed, though. They just poured a record $562.2 million into NVIDIA shares, betting the AI leader will stay on top despite the growing threat from new entrants.

Still, not everyone’s convinced this ride will be smooth. Nassim Taleb, the guy who warned about black swan events before they happened, thinks NVIDIA’s recent volatility could be a sign of something bigger. But NVIDIA isn’t backing down. The company argues that advances like DeepSeek’s only reinforce the need for its high-performance GPUs. One thing’s clear—AI investment isn’t slowing down, and the stakes for investors are only getting higher.