Here's what every major analyst expects from Nvidia's earnings report after the bell Thursday

Published Thu, Feb 13 202012:06 PM EST

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Computer graphics processor and chip maker, Nvidia , will be front and center for traders when the company delivers its fourth-quarter earnings report on Thursday after the bell. The company's three main businesses — gaming, data center, and automotive — will get most of the attention, but that's not the only thing Wall Street analysts and others will be watching. The company will also need to reassure investors and analysts of its plans to navigate the deadly coronavirus which continues to wreak havoc in different parts of the market. Shares of the company are up 77% over the last year but in order for that to continue the company will need to show a return to revenue growth after several lackluster quarters analysts say. Despite that, most analysts expect 2020 to be a big year Nvidia. Here's what else analysts expect from Nvidia's earnings report: "We expect a strong quarter and outlook in both gaming and data center, with perhaps some marginal conservatism in the gaming outlook driven by coronavirus," Morgan Stanley said. The firm also said its data checks show strong demand for the company's gaming cards in China but earnings results could be impacted if that trend doesn't hold. "We would point out that coronavirus does present some risk to that, given outsized gaming exposure to China gaming during the holiday period; while online gaming numbers appear to be quite robust for the holiday period, there is some risk that internet gaming café business is weaker, and purchases of graphics cards for home use may also be slower," they said. Another analyst said he had confidence in the company but urged clients to take more of a wait and see approach due to the virus uncertainty. "Additionally, we believe the company would report a beat-and-raise on Thursday night in a normal environment, but are unsure how management will treat the coronavirus when issuing guidance," Susquehanna said. Still, the firm conceded that Nvidia's strong upcoming product pipeline would probably be enough to keep the company's momentum going. "Overall, we believe that NVIDIA is well positioned to outperform peers in C2020 as they are set to benefit from a litany of upcoming 7nm launches throughout the year," he said. The sentiment was largely the same at Bank of America. "The stock's strong run since August could set a high bar; though any volatility could lead to an enhanced opportunity as investor positioning is favorable, in our view," analyst Vivek Arya said. The firm said it believes that ultimately the company has everything an investor should want. " We believe this presents a particularly attractive opportunity to own a large-cap leader with the unique ability to compound sales/EPS at a 15-20% compound annual growth rate that is exposed to the most investable markets in tech," he said. Susquehanna- Positive rating "Despite the largely positive data points across NVIDIA's business, there is risk the coronavirus could add conservatism to management guidance given the potential for demand impacts and disruption to the supply chain (we note Nintendo has recently acknowledged production/deliveries will be delayed as they manufacture in China). Overall, we believe that NVIDIA is well positioned to outperform peers in C2020 as they are set to benefit from a litany of upcoming 7nm launches throughout the year. Additionally, we believe the company would report a beat-and-raise on Thursday night in a normal environment, but are unsure how management will treat the coronavirus when issuing guidance." RBC- Outperform rating "We raise our estimates on NVDA as we think the Jan-qtr will come in a bit ahead of the high-end of guide due to better than expected gaming and data center demand. That said, we do not see a change to seasonal patterns for April due to to macro concerns." Bank of America- Buy rating "We look for a strong FQ4, driven by recovering data center/cloud sales. For FQ1 outlook, there could be some modest sales headwind since China is an important gaming market, but we expect investors will likely look beyond this near-term industry issue, since NVDA's secular growth trends and execution likely will be on track. The stock's strong run since August could set a high bar; though any volatility could lead to an enhanced opportunity as investor positioning is favorable, in our view. While NVDA stock is well-owned, holders are still underweight. We believe this presents a particularly attractive opportunity to own a large-cap leader with the unique ability to compound sales/EPS at a 15-20% CAGR that is exposed to the most investable markets in tech (AI, gaming, autos, 5G)." Morgan Stanley- Overweight rating "We expect a strong quarter and outlook in both gaming and data center, with perhaps some marginal conservatism in the gaming outlook driven by coronavirus. We have been expecting a strong quarter and outlook in both segments, with multiple data points suggesting strong demand from cloud, as well as fairly strong demand for higher end gaming cards. We would point out that coronavirus does present some risk to that, given outsized gaming exposure to China gaming during the holiday period; while online gaming numbers appear to be quite robust for the holiday period, there is some risk that internet gaming café business is weaker, and purchases of graphics cards for home use may also be slower." UBS- Buy rating "Near-term, FQ4:20 looks biased higher & we see path to multi-Q positive revisions. Since our upgrade almost 12 months ago, NVDA remains one of our top ideas in semis as product cycle is a better differentiator than 'playing the cycle' in semis, especially given how much multiples have expanded." Wells Fargo- Overweight rating "Data Center Growth Reacceleration Remains a Positive; Coronavirus Impact to Result in Cautious Guide. Although we believe investors should expect some incremental caution in NVIDIA's F1Q21 guide amid potential demand impacts from Coronavirus, we're expecting overall positive F4Q20 results with a notable focus remaining on NVIDIA's reaccelerating Data Center growth; forward visibility commentary." Evercore ISI- Outperform rating "Beat & Raise Likely on the Come; CY20 Product Cycles have us Excited: We look for a solid beat, with a likely conservative guide, but still modestly better than consensus on Gaming strength and continued sequential growth in Data Center. Our only worry is potential negative impact from the Coronavirus on domestic China gaming demand, particularly shut down of iCafes – so stay tuned. ... Add-in secular drivers of DC acceleration, Autonomous driving upside, and MLNX acquisition accretion and the Long Term story remains bright for NVDA." Deutsche Bank- Hold rating "At a high level, we would not be surprised if NVDA delivered incremental upside in both its quarter and guidance. Sentiment-wise, this upside appears largely reflected in the stock with its +26% move in the last 3 months. Diving into segments, Gaming may be a bit better than our -9% q/q estimate in F4Q, while F1Q could benefit from a better-than-seasonal PC market." Rosenblatt - Buy rating "We expect the January quarter to be driven by strong sales in the data center segment (on hyperscaler purchasing and strength in conversational AI) offset by seasonal declines in notebook gaming GPUs and Nintendo-switch related revenue. We will also be looking for any comments on the pending acquisition of Mellanox (expected to close in early part of CY20). We are comfortable with our April quarter of $3.0 billion sales estimate, above-consensus, that we see being driven by continued recovery in data center GPU compute." Citi- Buy rating "We see upside to both Jan-Q and Apr-Q Street estimates on hyper scale data center conversational AI and recommendation engine demand. We expect in-line gaming sales or down seasonally -11% Q/Q in the Jan-Q per recent Taiwan AIC/OEM data with modest risk to gaming demand in the Apr-Q due to Coronavirus, lower PC motherboard shipments, and Nintendo Switch production delays in China." Oppenheimer - Outperform rating "In gaming, we see easy 1H comps and 2H demand from likely launch of 7nm GPU. Coronavirus is a near-term wildcard for the group, though any transitory impacts are unlikely to impact NVDA's structural growth/margin story. We raise our target to $300 and reiterate Outperform." Jefferies- Buy rating "NVDA has outperformed the SOX by 800 bps since our 7-Jan mtg at CES, but we think the outperformance is justified and expect NVDA to report positive trends in Datacenter (DC). We observe: 1) positive CapEx commentary from hyperscalers, 2) robust 4Q server demand at INTC and AMD, 3) DC capacity absorption by DC REITS. We believe NVDA's acceleration solutions will continue to take share in the DC, and view it as a core '4th Tectonic Shift in Computing' play." Bernstein- Market Perform rating "Investors dreaming of secular stories remain enamored of a developing product narrative, with the March analyst day approaching, and with hopes of new product refreshes (both gaming and datacenter) coming in the 2H. ... We are not fundamentally negative on the name, but with numbers that we still believe might be a touch too high, and with potential coronavirus pressures, we might prefer a slightly better entry point." Wedbush- Outperform rating "We believe upside in NVDA's data center sales is probable in light of recent stronger hyperscale buying trends. Moreover, should NVDA close its proposed MLNX deal, our numbers for FY'20 and FY'21 could increase considerably with MLNX's strong performance over the past year having made the deal appear increasingly favorable for NVDA."

Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia, speaks during the Computex Show in Taipei on May 30, 2017.

SAM YEH | AFP | Getty Images

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)

Computer graphics processor and chip maker, Nvidia, will be front and center for traders when the company delivers its fourth-quarter earnings report on Thursday after the bell. The company's three main businesses — gaming, data center, and automotive — will get most of the attention, but that's not the only thing Wall Street analysts and others will be watching.

The company will also need to reassure investors and analysts of its plans to navigate the deadly coronavirus which continues to wreak havoc in different parts of the market.

Shares of the company are up 77% over the last year but in order for that to continue the company will need to show a return to revenue growth after several lackluster quarters analysts say. Despite that, most analysts expect 2020 to be a big year Nvidia.

Here's what else analysts expect from Nvidia's earnings report: