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In today’s market, three tech giants are making headlines for very different reasons. Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) received a boost from analyst upgrades, Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) unveiled plans for humanoid robots, and CrowdStrike (Nasdaq: CRWD) continued to grapple with the fallout from a major IT outage.

Nvidia Stock Gains as Analyst Up Price Target

Nvidia’s stock is surging today, up 3.77% to $122.38 as of 10:57 AM EDT, following multiple analyst upgrades. Piper Sandler raised its price target from $120 to $140, while Loop Capital set an even more bullish target of $175.

These upgrades are driven by optimistic forecasts for Nvidia’s earnings and the anticipated launch of its new Blackwell architecture.

Analysts are particularly enthusiastic about Nvidia’s prospects in the accelerated computing and AI markets. They anticipate strong demand from cloud providers, enterprises, and sovereign entities, with the Blackwell architecture launch viewed as a catalyst for a new growth phase.

Nvidia’s year-to-date return of 147.02% and a five-year return of 2,821.44% underscore its utter dominant position in the chip sector.

Tesla Stock Rises as Elon Musk Reveals Plans for Humanoid Robot

Tesla’s stock is also on the rise, up 4.26% to $249.38 as of 10:58 AM EDT, following CEO Elon Musk’s announcement of plans to deploy humanoid robots in Tesla factories by next year. The robots will initially be for internal use, with wider availability to other companies expected by 2026.

This move is part of Tesla’s broader pivot towards AI, autonomous driving, and robotics. The company unveiled its first-generation “Bumblebee” robot in September 2022 and recently released a video of a second-generation robot folding a T-shirt. Investors are also eagerly anticipating Tesla’s Q2 earnings report, with a focus on margins and updates on the company’s robotaxi and AI ventures.

CrowdStrike Stock Continues to Plunge Amid Fallout from Global IT Outage

In stark contrast to Nvidia and Tesla, CrowdStrike’s stock is plummeting, down 9.97% to $274.55 as of 10:57 AM EDT. The cybersecurity firm is reeling from a catastrophic software update that caused widespread global IT outages on Friday, July 19, 2024.

The incident affected an estimated 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide, with potential damages exceeding $1 billion.

The outage impacted various sectors, including airlines, banks, healthcare facilities, and government agencies. CrowdStrike’s stock fell 11.10% on Friday and continued to decline in pre-market trading on Monday.

The incident has raised questions about the company’s testing and update procedures, potentially impacting its ability to win new customers in the short term.

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