Shares of Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) were up more than 3% in early afternoon trading Wednesday after new reports pointed to positive developments for the overall semiconductor industry and the company’s own strategic partners.
For one, the entire chip-making space was lifted by fresh data from the Semiconductor Industry Association, which said late Monday that global sales in the month of May gained nearly 23% year-over-year to $31.9 billion. This leap marked the largest single-month gain since September 2010.
Elsewhere, Nvidia rival Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) gained more than 7%, snapping its seven-day losing streak, while other popular semiconductor stocks like Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) , Micron (NASDAQ:MU) , and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) also moved higher.
Overall, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was up more than 0.6% and the popular iShares PHLX Semiconductor Sector ETF SOXX jumped more than 2.1% (also read: Here's Why Advanced Micro Devices Stock Gained Today).
Nvidia is also being lifted by the news that Sweden-based, Chinese-owned auto giant Volvo is planning to phase out combustion engine-based models by 2019.
“This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-based powered car,” said Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson. “This means that in the future there will be no Volvo cars without an electric motor.”
Nvidia recently announced a partnership with Volvo to develop next-generation software systems for self-driving cars (also read: NVIDIA Partners With Volvo Cars and Autoliv Select).
Nvidia has emerged as one of the hottest the hottest stocks of 2017, skyrocketing more than 36% as its investments in self-driving cars and artificial intelligence have slowly started to pay off. The company’s advancements in image processing technology should solidify its position as a leader in the semiconductor business as these markets continue to expand.
For now, Nvidia remains a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Nevertheless, the stock has earned an “A” grade for Momentum and a “B” grade for Growth in our Style Scores system.
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