Trade Ideas February 18, 2026

Meta’s Chip Deal Hands Nvidia the Proof the Market Was Waiting For

Use the Meta partnership as a catalyst — enter on validated breakout, ride mid-term AI infrastructure re-rating.

By Sofia Navarro NVDA
Meta’s Chip Deal Hands Nvidia the Proof the Market Was Waiting For
NVDA

Nvidia just extended its hyperscaler dominance: a multiyear deal with Meta to supply Blackwell/Rubin GPUs and Grace/Vera CPUs meaningfully increases revenue visibility for 2026. The trade is to buy NVDA on a confirmed breakout with a stop below recent support and a target near the 52-week high — a mid-term swing that balances momentum and valuation risk.

Key Points

  • Meta signed a multiyear agreement for millions of Blackwell/Rubin GPUs and Grace/Vera CPUs, improving Nvidia's revenue visibility.
  • Trade idea: long NVDA at $189.00, stop $175.00, target $210.00, mid-term horizon (45 trading days).
  • Valuation is rich (P/E ~45.8, P/S ~24) but supported by large free cash flow ($77.324B) and very high ROE (~83%).
  • Catalysts: analyst revisions, shipment cadence updates, additional hyperscaler deals, and fund flows into AI theme.

Hook / Thesis
The market has been asking for concrete evidence that hyperscalers will keep spending on Nvidia-class AI infrastructure. Today it got that proof: a multiyear supply agreement with Meta for millions of Blackwell and Rubin GPUs plus Grace/Vera CPUs, networking and confidential computing tech. That deal converts narrative into revenue visibility, and it should remove at least one major overhang on sentiment.

The trade here is a directional long: buy Nvidia on a validated breakout or on a controlled pullback, target the obvious upside toward the $210 area where the stock confronts the 52-week high band, and keep a stop that respects the company’s near-term support structure. This is a mid-term swing designed to capture re-rating as investors reprice the AI infrastructure TAM with a marquee hyperscaler under contract.

Why the market should care
Nvidia designs the GPUs, CPUs and full-stack platforms that power large-scale generative AI. The business is concentrated in two segments: Graphics and Compute & Networking. The latter now includes accelerated computing platforms, networking (Quantum InfiniBand, Spectrum Ethernet) and server-grade CPUs (Grace/Vera). A multiyear commitment from Meta validates Nvidia’s mix of current-generation Blackwell GPUs and its roadmap (Rubin), and it pushes future Grace/Vera server adoption from theoretical to tangible.

In plain numbers: Nvidia carries a market cap of about $4.63 trillion. Trailing multiple metrics show the market is paying up: price/earnings is roughly 45.8x and price/sales near 24x. But Nvidia also throws off real cash: reported free cash flow is $77.324 billion and return on equity sits at a very high 83.43%. Debt is minimal (debt/equity ~0.07) and liquidity ratios are healthy (current ratio ~4.47), which matters when customers like Meta sign long-term, capital-intensive deals.

Supporting evidence from recent data
- The stock is trading around $188.35 after the Meta announcement and showed an intraday high near $190.37. Volume is elevated versus recent averages: today’s volume is ~104.8 million against a two-week average of ~184 million (note: heavy but not record-setting given NVDA’s liquidity).
- Valuation remains rich: P/E ~45.8 and P/B ~37.8, but those multiples reflect an earnings base that is very cash-flow rich (free cash flow $77.324B).
- Technical indicators support momentum: the 10-day SMA ~$184.32 and 50-day SMA ~$184.61 sit below price, the 9-day EMA is ~$185.95, and the MACD shows bullish momentum. RSI around 53 suggests there is room to run without extended overbought readings.

Trade Plan (actionable)

  • Direction: Long NVDA.
  • Entry: $189.00 (aggressive breakout entry) — you can scale in if you prefer to average between $186.00 and $189.00, but the plan below assumes a single-entry execution at $189.00.
  • Target: $210.00. This target sits below the 52-week high of $212.19 and captures the likely first leg of re-rating as revenue visibility from Meta filters into estimates.
  • Stop-loss: $175.00. A stop here is below the 50-day/10-day SMAs and recent intraday support, limiting downside if momentum stalls.
  • Horizon: Mid term (45 trading days). Expect the market to revalue NVDA as the cadence of Meta deliveries and related analyst updates come into focus over the next 6-9 weeks.

Why this sizing and horizon? The Meta agreement is a catalyst with multi-quarter revenue implications. Mid-term (45 trading days) is a practical window to capture analyst revisions, order-flow commentary from Nvidia, and any incremental color from Meta about deployment timing. The stop at $175 limits capital at risk while leaving room for normal intraday volatility given NVDA’s liquidity and short-volume background.

Catalysts to watch

  • Analyst estimate revisions and price-target resets following the Meta announcement. Upgrades could compress risk premium quickly.
  • Management commentary on the timing and cadence of chip shipments and integration milestones during upcoming earnings calls or investor events.
  • Macro flows into AI theme ETFs and large-cap growth funds — these can accelerate share price moves in the short-to-mid term.
  • Follow-on supply agreements with other hyperscalers (TSMC/Applied Materials ecosystem headlines also supportive).

Valuation framing
At a market cap of ~$4.63 trillion and a P/E near 45.8x, Nvidia is priced for high growth. Price-to-sales of ~24x and enterprise multiples (EV/EBITDA ~39.87) are demanding by historical standards for semiconductor incumbents, but Nvidia is not a typical semiconductor: it owns the dominant stack for AI training and is monetizing software and networking layers. Free cash flow of $77.324 billion gives the room for capital allocation and supports a premium multiple if growth continues.

Put simply: the stock needs earnings growth and durable multi-hyperscaler adoption to justify the multiple. The Meta deal materially reduces execution risk on one of those fronts by guaranteeing meaningful volume from a major customer.

Counterargument
A legitimate counterargument is that Nvidia is already priced for perfection. If AI capex growth slows, or if competitors (hyperscalers building in-house chips or alternative architectures) take more share than expected, multiples could compress sharply. Additionally, a single large deal does not eliminate macro or execution risks — and markets can revert quickly if forward guidance disappoints relative to the elevated expectations embedded in the valuation.

Risks (balanced and specific)

  • Execution risk: Delivering millions of GPUs and associated CPUs on schedule is non-trivial. Any slippage or yield issues would hit revenue visibility and sentiment.
  • Competition / displacement risk: Hyperscalers could accelerate internal silicon programs or diversify suppliers, reducing Nvidia’s long-term TAM.
  • Valuation compression: With P/E ~45.8x and price/sales ~24x, a small miss in growth or margin expansion can translate into large share-price declines.
  • Macro and flow risk: Rapid shifts in risk appetite or outflows from growth ETFs could amplify downside volatility even if fundamentals remain intact.
  • Concentration risk: A large portion of Nvidia’s value depends on continued hyperscaler spending; any change in their capex priorities could be disproportionate.

What would change my mind
I would become more cautious if management gives guidance that the Meta shipments are back-loaded into late 2026 or if sequential bookings show a material slowdown outside the Meta agreement. Conversely, I would turn more bullish if Nvidia provides concrete shipment schedules and margin accretion tied to the new product mix (Rubin/Grace/Vera) and if other large hyperscalers announce similar multiyear deals.

Execution checklist for traders

Step Action
Entry Buy at $189.00 or scale between $186 and $189 on confirmation.
Stop Place stop at $175.00. Revisit if the stock retests and holds above $180 with rising volume.
Target Take profits at $210.00. Consider partial sells on strength above $200 to de-risk.
Hold duration Mid term (45 trading days). Reassess after official commentary on delivery cadence and analyst revisions.

Bottom line
Meta’s deal is a high-quality data point in Nvidia’s favor: it turns strategic narrative into quantifiable demand. The trade here is a balanced, mid-term long that uses a clearly defined entry and stop to manage the valuation risk that comes with an already-rich multiple. If you believe hyperscaler AI spend will continue to accelerate and Nvidia remains the default supplier for large-scale training, this is a pragmatic way to position for that outcome while limiting capital at risk.

Key numbers to keep on your screen: current price ~$188.35, free cash flow $77.324B, market cap ~$4.63T, P/E ~45.8, 52-week high $212.19, 52-week low $86.62.

Risks

  • Execution risk: delivery or yield issues on a large multiyear supply agreement could hurt near-term revenue.
  • Competition risk: hyperscalers accelerating internal silicon could reduce Nvidia's addressable spend over time.
  • Valuation compression: elevated multiples mean small misses could cause outsized share price declines.
  • Macro/flow risk: sudden rotation out of growth or AI-related funds could amplify downside even with positive fundamentals.

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