Nvidia, the most valuable company in the world, delivered record earnings results for the third quarter, with revenue up 62% year over year, impressing even the lone analyst on Wall Street with a sell rating on the stock.

Why it matters: The results, and the market reaction thus far, indicate that nothing is stopping the Nvidia train.

What they're saying: "It was a good quarter, I give them full credit for that," Jay Goldberg, the lone bear and senior analyst at Seaport Research Partners, told Axios after the earnings release yesterday.

• "Honestly, I thought it was going to be a much stronger guide. But this is still a decent guide," he said, adding the guidance beat may not be enough for investors forget the recent tech headwinds.
• On the call, Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said the firm expects half a trillion dollars of revenue from its Blackwell and Rubin chips through 2026.
• "Blackwell sales are off the charts, and cloud GPUs are sold out," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement in the earnings release.

Zoom out: The broader question of whether the market is heading full speed ahead into an AI bubble lies on Nvidia's back, given it makes up 8% of the S&P 500 and 1% of the global market.

• Huang addressed this at the top of his remarks on the call: "There's been a lot of talk about an AI bubble. From our vantage point, we see something very different."
• He went on to talk about examples of returns on AI investment, mentioning everything from Meta's advertising business to expansion opportunities for OpenAI.

Reality check: The results are still not enough to make Goldberg change his sell rating, he said, since he is concerned about how long customers can keep spending billions on Nvidia chips.

• He is concerned about the path forward for neocloud players in particular.
• "The sort of growing looming question is how long can they keep this up?"

What to watch: Whether the results lift the broader market.

• Headwinds facing Nvidia and the broader AI ecosystem were "not put to rest" with these results, Dan Morgan at Synovus Trust wrote in a note.

The market rally this year has been largely powered by a narrow set of tech stocks.

The big picture: Investors have to decide whether the blockbuster earnings Nvidia reported yesterday are enough to calm the AI bubble fears that have weighed on the market. No pressure.

What they're saying: "I think Nvidia had a good quarter, I don't know if it's enough to save the whole AI trade," Goldberg of Seaport told Axios.

• With the lone sell rating on Nvidia, he admits this quarter was good, but not enough to change his mind on the stock and his broader concern that all the AI spending that Nvidia is benefiting from can't go on forever.
• The broader market is up 1% premarket after Nvidia popped 7% after hours.

Zoom out: A lot was riding on Nvidia into the print, given the stock was down over 9% amid a broader tech selloff.

• "It's been an ugly market the past couple days" and it feels like clients are "shutting down for the rest of the year," Rishi Jaluria, research analyst at RBC Capital Markets, told Axios.

Between the lines: Clients are afraid to get out of the major tech names that have defined the market rally this year.

• "Conversations with clients suggest sentiment remains bearish. However, FOMO has kept them from deploying hedges," Amy Wu Silverman, head of derivatives strategy at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note.
• "One client said, 'Yes, we are all a bunch of fully invested bears.'"

By the numbers: Nvidia results don't just affect the tech trade.

• With Nvidia making up 8% of the S&P 500 by market cap, its movements sway the broader market. The stock alone is responsible for about a fifth of overall market gains for the year.

State of play: This is not only about Wall Street anymore, with retail comprising about a quarter of trading volume.

• Nvidia earnings "will help determine momentum going forward and the marching orders of the "retail" army," Silverman wrote.
• A buy-the-dip mentality has worked out for retail investors this year. And because of that, inflows from the group have about doubled amid the latest selloff, said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

Threat level: As much as it all comes down to Nvidia, this is also about:

💰 The Fed — which may pause its rate-cutting cycle in December based on its latest meeting minutes, per a note from RSM US principal and chief economist Joe Brusuelas.

🏦 Leverage — as more of the largest tech companies take on debt to finance their AI investments rather than only using the cash they generate.

📈 Valuations — which are inching closer to bubble territory, with the S&P 500 trading at 30 times earnings versus the historic average of 18.

🤔 Uncertainty — regarding the health of the economy as well as tariff policy.

What to watch: The reaction to Nvidia earnings, of course, and how those results affect the broader market in the coming days and weeks.

• "With only seven trading days left in November, time is running out to move the markets back up," Bob Lang, the founder of Explosive Options, wrote in a note.

The U.S. high-yield option-adjusted spread climbed to its highest level since June, according to market analyst and technician Mike Zaccardi.

Why it matters: The widening spread signals growing investor concern about credit risk in lower-rated corporate bonds.

• Rising option-adjusted spread levels can precede tighter financial conditions or hint at broader economic stress, as investors demand increased compensation for holding riskier debt.
• This mirrors the recent broader shift away from risk seen across Wall Street, as tech stocks and crypto have slumped.

What to watch: Whether the better than expected Nvidia results are enough to turn the risk spigot back on.