Nvidia Hits Record After U.S. Clears H200 Chip Sales to China

Nvidia shares climbed to a record high Thursday after U.S. officials approved sales of the company’s H200 AI chips to about 10 Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance. The stock rose about 4% to an intraday peak near $234 and pushed Nvidia’s market value to roughly $5.7 trillion. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also reached intraday highs.

The U.S. Commerce Department issued licenses allowing approved Chinese customers to buy H200 chips, with each customer permitted to purchase up to 75,000 units. The approvals include JD.com and hardware distributors such as Lenovo and Foxconn. No H200 shipments have taken place so far.

The H200 is Nvidia’s second-most powerful chip for artificial intelligence and is used to train and run large-scale models. Analysts have identified the H200 and similar products as drivers of data-center revenue and have raised price targets for Nvidia shares in recent days.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined a U.S. delegation visiting Beijing during high-level talks between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. Huang was added to the trip after an invitation from Trump, and investors saw his presence as a potential route to help resolve export licensing and shipping issues that have delayed deliveries.

Licensing approvals do not guarantee immediate shipments. Approved buyers must still complete export procedures and obtain additional clearances. Political and logistical factors could delay orders and deliveries, and future policy changes could affect sales to China.

Traders and analysts will watch whether licensed purchases result in confirmed orders and shipments and how any China sales factor into Nvidia’s next earnings report.