Highlights for the morning: Nvidia beats forecasts, gold and oil react to Fed and sanctions

Nvidia beat Wall Street forecasts by announcing record demand for its Blackwell architecture and growing data center revenue, boosting its stock and supporting the AI sector. Block unveiled an ambitious three-year outlook with accelerating earnings growth and an expanded buyback program, causing the stock to jump 9%. These and other topics - in our review of key events by the morning of November 20.

Nvidia reported for the third quarter, exceeding expectations. Revenues totaled $57 billion and earnings per share were $1.3 versus forecasts of $55.2 billion and $1.25, respectively, Yahoo Finance reports. The company forecast $65 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter - above Wall Street's expectations.

According to CEO Jensen Huang, Blackwell sales are "off the charts" and GPUs for cloud services are "sold out". The main driver of revenue growth was data centers, which brought in $51.2 billion, compared to the expected $49.3 billion. The gaming business fell slightly short of the forecast. Revenue from sales of H20 chips developed for China remained insignificant. Nvidia shares rose more than 5%, pulling quotes of AMD, Micron and other major technology giants, the publication notes.

Since the beginning of the year, Nvidia stock is up 37%.

Block unveiled a new three-year outlook at its Investor Day: the company expects gross profit to grow at "mid double-digit" levels each year and reach $15.8 billion by 2028, CNBC reported. Adjusted operating income and EPS will grow about 30% annually. Block's stock jumped 9% after the forecasts were released, despite previously losing more than 30% in 2025 due to serial revenue underperformance. Block is more actively moving away from the classic POS business, expanding its Cash App and lineup of fintech and AI services, the channel notes.

The company also reported that gross profit has nearly doubled and EBITDA has tripled since 2022. Block is introducing a new free cash flow metric and expects it to exceed $4 billion by 2028. For 2026, the forecast is gross profit of $12 billion (+17%), operating income of $2.7 billion, and EPS of $3.20. Additionally, Block expanded its buyback program by another $5bn.

The cost of gold held steady at around $4075 an ounce after a two-day rise as investors lowered expectations of a Fed rate cut in December, Bloomberg reports. The minutes of the central bank's October meeting showed that most managers are leaning toward keeping the rate until the end of 2025. At the same time, the dollar strengthened noticeably - it presses on gold, making it more expensive for buyers.

Since the beginning of the year, gold has risen in price by more than 50% and in October updated the record. The price growth was supported by two previous Fed rate cuts, central bank purchases and the inflow of funds into ETFs, the agency notes. Now metals are trading calmly: gold is just below $4075, silver is above $51, platinum and palladium are also growing.

Oil prices are holding near $64 per barrel for Brent and below $60 for WTI after falling more than 2%, Bloomberg writes. Investors are assessing the consequences of U.S. sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, which come into force on Friday, November 21, and are already changing supply routes - especially to India - and forcing Lukoil to seek buyers for foreign assets. In parallel, the EU is considering new measures against companies that support the operation of a "shadow fleet" of Russian tankers.

The market is still heading for a year-on-year price decline amid expectations of a supply surplus, although geopolitical risks are adding a slight premium. Russian oil product exports in November fell to their lowest level since 2022 - due to strikes on Russian refineries and sanctions. Meanwhile, international players are already interested in Lukoil's assets: Exxon has discussed a stake in the West Qurna-2 field with Iraq. Prices are also pressured by data on the growth of gasoline and distillate stocks in the U.S., although crude oil stocks unexpectedly declined.

- The broad Japanese Topix index rose by 1.84%. Benchmark Nikkei 225 - by 2.78%.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.22 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index was down 0.17 percent.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was up 2.42% and the Kosdaq was up 2.31%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.24%.

- Nasdaq 100 futures were up 1.82 percent, the S&P 500 was up 1.29 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.60 percent.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor