Nvidia shares rose to new highs on Thursday after reports that the U.S. will allow about 10 Chinese companies to buy H200 AI chips, reopening a major sales opportunity in one of the world’s most important AI markets.
Shares rose nearly 4% on Thursday, trading at nearly $234 at press time, pushing Nvidia’s market capitalization to about $5.7 trillion as broad-based tech gains pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to intraday highs. The move further extends the company’s record after it passed the $5.5 trillion market cap threshold earlier this week.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has approved about 10 Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and Jingtocom, to buy Nvidia’s H200 chips. Resellers such as Lenovo and Foxconn have also been approved, and each approved customer can purchase up to 75,000 chips under license terms.
So far, no H200 deliveries have taken place and the contract remains in limbo despite approval. The delay reflects continued tensions between the U.S. export control regime and the Chinese government, which is seeking to reduce its dependence on U.S. technology while building domestic AI chip capabilities.
The development comes as NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang joins the US delegation in Beijing during high-level talks with President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr. Hwang was added to the trip at the invitation of President Trump, and investors are raising hopes that his visit will lead to a breakthrough in stagnant chip sales.
The H200 is Nvidia’s second most powerful AI chip and remains the leading product for training and running advanced AI systems. The approval could restore some of Nvidia’s access to the Chinese market. This is a market where the company’s sales are restricted by export regulations aimed at restricting access to advanced AI hardware by the Chinese government.
Nvidia’s rise also reflects Wall Street’s continued confidence in AI infrastructure spending ahead of the company’s next earnings report. Analysts have raised their price targets in recent days, citing the expansion of the AI data center market and Nvidia’s growing role as a core supplier of computing power.
