Investors are bracing for Nvidia Corp.’s fiscal-second-quarter results on Wednesday, a release widely viewed as the next decisive moment for the artificial-intelligence trade that has powered equity markets this year. The semiconductor maker’s performance will arrive days after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled a possible September rate cut, a comment that propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a closing record and lifted the S&P 500 within a whisker of its own high. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect Nvidia to post revenue of roughly $46 billion, up more than 50% from a year earlier, and adjusted earnings of about $1.00 a share. Data-centre sales alone are projected above $40 billion as hyperscalers escalate capital-spending plans. Options pricing implies a swing of 6-to-7% in the stock after the report, underscoring its market heft: with a market value near $4.4 trillion, Nvidia now represents almost 8% of the S&P 500. Wall Street will focus not only on the headline figures but also on management’s guidance, which may be complicated by a new arrangement requiring the company to pay the U.S. government 15% of any China-related AI chip revenue. KeyBanc estimates China sales could otherwise add $2–3 billion next quarter; exclusion of that business could leave guidance shy of consensus forecasts calling for about $52.6 billion in fiscal-third-quarter revenue. The stakes are high after a brief pullback in megacap technology stocks last week. Nvidia shares have still risen more than 30% in 2025 and over 1,400% since late 2022, making the company a proxy for broader AI enthusiasm. A solid report could reinforce the year’s rally, while a miss would test valuations that already price the S&P 500 at roughly 22 times forward earnings. Nvidia’s release caps a busy stretch that also includes earnings from Dell Technologies, Marvell Technology and Canada’s biggest banks, as well as Friday’s core personal-consumption-expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. For many traders, however, the week’s direction will hinge on whether Nvidia can extend its streak of earnings beats and justify the market’s lofty AI expectations.