By Danny Vena, CPA
Publication Date: 2026-01-13 08:02:00
Despite challenges last year, Nvidia rewarded patient shareholders. It could be just the beginning.
If 2025 taught us anything, it was the fact that uncertainty is the only constant.
Take Nvidia (NVDA +0.04%) for example. The chipmaker notched blistering gains for two successive years before its growth was stunted by uncertainty last year. A notable list of challenges faced the company in 2025, yet investors climbed a wall of worry that initially sent the stock plummeting 37%. To close out the year, however, the stock soared 38.9%, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, more than double the 16.4% gains of the S&P 500.
Let’s look at what drove the stock higher in 2025 and why there might be more to come in the year ahead.
Image source: Nvidia.
A wave of uncertainty
The bar was set high for Nvidia last year, as it had delivered back-to-back years of triple-digit growth, fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI). Although a deceleration of its growth was expected, it still made some investors nervous.
Moreover, some feared that the introduction of DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning model would reduce demand for Nvidia’s AI-centric graphics processing units (GPUs), though those concerns were unfounded. The widespread implementation of tariffs on imports raised the specter of higher prices, but investors ultimately took a “wait and see” attitude.
The ban on the sale of AI chips to customers in China was arguably the biggest hurdle. Nvidia designed its H20…
