Nvidia Helps Wall Street Erase Its Losses for the Week

US stocks rose Wednesday and erased their losses for the week so far, as Nvidia and other technology companies led the way.

• The S&P 500 climbed 56.06 points, or 0.8%, to 6.946.12 for a second straight gain following Monday's swoon.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 307.65 points, or 0.6%, to 49,482.15.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 288.40 points, or 1.3%, to 23,152.08.

Nvidia rose 1.4% and was one of the strongest forces lifting the market ahead of its highly anticipated profit report, which is scheduled to come shortly after trading's end for the day, the AP reports. Analysts are expecting it to deliver another blowout earnings report, and they're forecasting Nvidia will say its profit surged nearly 70% from a year earlier to $37.52 billion. That would mean it made more than $400 million per day during the three months through Jan. 25.

Cava Group, the fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain, jumped 26.4% after delivering better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Axon Enterprise leaped 17.6% after the seller of Tasers and body cameras with AI voice-activated assistants likewise reported bigger profit and revenue than analysts expected. They helped offset a 13.6% drop for First Solar, which reported a weaker profit than analysts expected. Lowe's fell 5.6% and was one of the heaviest weights on the market even though the home-improvement retailer reported a higher profit than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on its forecast for profit over the course of 2026, which fell short of analysts' estimates. Stocks for rival Home Depot and homebuilders also fell.

Nvidia's profit reports have become a bellwether for the market, not only because it's become Wall Street's biggest stock but also because of how influential AI has become over the market's moves. In past years, the AI frenzy helped stocks run to record after record amid hopes that it would revolutionize the economy and make it more productive. More recently, though, concerns have climbed about whether companies like Alphabet and Amazon are spending so much on chips from Nvidia and other equipment that they'll never be able to make back the investments through future gains in productivity. If that leads to a pullback in spending, it would hit Nvidia directly.

Investors have also begun focusing on companies and industries that could get undercut by AI-powered competitors. That has led to sudden and swift sell-offs for stocks seen as potentially under threat, and the worries have rolled through industries as seemingly disparate as software, trucking logistics, and legal services.