You know that friend who’s been stubbornly wrong about something for months, then suddenly shows up acting like they knew it all along? Meet DA Davidson, Nvidia’s biggest Wall Street skeptic who just did the financial equivalent of eating crow.
These analysts went from predicting a 48% crash in March to slapping a “buy” rating on NVDA and calling for 18% upside. That’s not just changing your mind—that’s doing a full 180 while everyone’s watching.
The turnaround story is pretty wild. DA Davidson’s Gil Luria and his team were the party poopers warning that Big Tech’s AI spending spree would peak in 2026, potentially leaving Nvidia holding the bag. They kept asking the uncomfortable question: “Sure, everyone’s throwing billions at AI, but what are they actually getting for it?”
Fair point, honestly. It’s like watching your neighbor buy a $100,000 sports car to drive to the grocery store—impressive, but is it necessary?
But here’s where it gets interesting. Over the past six months, something clicked. The AI adoption rate went from “this seems promising” to “holy crap, this is actually happening everywhere.” Companies aren’t just buying Nvidia chips to look cool at tech conferences anymore—they’re actually building stuff that works.
The analysts basically admitted: “Our increasingly optimistic view of AI compute demand supersedes our list of concerns.” Translation: “We were wrong, and the money train isn’t stopping anytime soon.”
Now they’re targeting $210 per share, up from their previous $195. Not exactly swinging for the fences, but hey, admitting you’re wrong on Wall Street is like admitting you can’t parallel park—it takes guts.
The funny thing? Most of Wall Street already figured this out. Nvidia’s up 32% this year while the bears were still arguing about whether AI was “real enough” to justify the spending. Sometimes the market moves faster than the analysis.
But DA Davidson isn’t completely throwing caution to the wind. They’re still watching for potential speed bumps: hyperscaler spending patterns, profit margins, competition from custom chips, and—my personal favorite—”exuberant expectations.” Because nothing says “we learned our lesson” like immediately worrying about getting too excited.
The reality is, when one of Nvidia’s biggest skeptics waves the white flag, it says something about how undeniable the AI momentum has become. This isn’t about hype anymore—it’s about actual demand that’s growing faster than anyone expected.
Will Nvidia hit that $210 target? Who knows. But when the pessimists start sounding optimistic, it’s usually worth paying attention. Sometimes the best investment signal isn’t the bulls getting louder—it’s the bears getting quieter.
Just don’t expect DA Davidson to admit they should have seen this coming. That would be asking too much.