Nvidia’s UAE Sales Hit Snag, Report Says, Stock Rises Anyway

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has built the company into the favored provider of chips to train artificial-intelligence systems. (Photo by I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images)

Nvidia was gaining early on Friday. The chip maker is riding a wave of artificial-intelligence spending, despite a report of delays to hardware purchases from the United Arab Emirates.

Nvidia shares were up 0.1% at $189.08 in early trading. The stock rose 0.9% on Thursday.

The company’s market capitalization has surged beyond $4.5 trillion this week, powered by continuing enthusiasm for AI technology, as highlighted by ChatGPT-developer OpenAI’s new $500 billion valuation.

The latest initiative comes from Japan’s Fujitsu, which said on Friday that it would expand its collaboration with Nvidia to develop a platform for AI agents in sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, and robotics. AI agents are programs that have the ability to take simple directions and complete multistep tasks.

“Through this collaboration with Nvidia, Fujitsu aims to unlock new AI markets in previously challenging domains,” the Japanese company said in a statement.

Fujitsu said it would work on next-generation computing infrastructure combining its own central-processing units with Nvidia’s graphics-processing units and networking technology. No financial details were disclosed.

While Japanese AI looks to be powering ahead, plans for investment in the technology by the UAE are being delayed. The Emiratis’ planned purchases of up to several hundred thousand Nvidia chips annually in exchange for investment in the U.S. are yet to get under way amid negotiations with the Commerce Department, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter in a report late on Thursday.

“President Trump’s Middle East agreements promote U.S. leadership and benefit economic and national security. We support the administration as it executes its AI action plan, including the Middle East agreements, and look forward to providing any assistance they need,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Barron’s.

Among other chip makers, Advanced Micro Devices was down 0.4% and Broadcom was gaining 0.8%.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com