Wall Street research firms welcomed Nvidia’s latest quarterly report by raising expectations for the chipmaker, including a stronger-than-expected outlook. Ahead of Wednesday’s earnings report, analysts were already optimistic that Nvidia is ready for the AI chip boom. However, the company said Wednesday that it expects sales of about $11 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2024, an increase of 2%, more than 50% higher than Wall Street’s previous estimate of $7.15 billion. Shares were up nearly 25% in premarket trading. Nvidia shares were up 109% ahead of trading Thursday. “The computer industry is undergoing two simultaneous transformations — accelerated computing and generative artificial intelligence,” CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement on Wednesday. Huang added that the company is “significantly increasing” the supply of its data center products to meet “surging demand.” Sharply raised target price JPMorgan set its target price at $500 on Wednesday, double its previous estimate and the highest among large banks. Analyst Harlan Sur said this is “the first wave of massive demand for AI generation,” with more benefits to follow. He reiterated his overweight rating on the stock. “Generative AI and large language/translator models are driving accelerated growth in demand for Nvidia’s accelerated computing/networking platforms and software solutions. The team positions itself as a one-stop solution provider with a portfolio that includes computing/networking Chips, software/hosted cloud services, hardware systems, and a full-stack ecosystem for training/deploying complex models,” Sur wrote Thursday. Evercore also raised its price target to $500 from $320 based on the results. The new price target implies an upside of 30% as of 6:40 a.m. ET Thursday. “What else can we say but wow! … We’ve never seen a beat like this … ever,” analyst CJ Muse wrote in a Wednesday note. He said Nvidia has a long growth path and reiterated that the company is one of Evercore’s top picks. The company maintained its Outperform rating. Barclays also raised its price target to $500, 82% higher than its previous benchmark. Analyst Blayne Curtis maintained an overweight rating on the stock. “The market is moving fast, and NVDA seems to be the only solution that is ready to drive this wave of LLM,” Curtis said. “NVDA’s data center (DC) business had been expected to take a leap forward, but it’s at least a quarter ahead of schedule, and by a huge margin.” “AI Feeding Frenzy” UBS says in “AI Feeding Frenzy” , it also continues to be bullish on Nvidia. “From a valuation standpoint, we’ve grown EPS far more than the stock, so we think it’s actually cheaper now than it was when it was profitable, which opens up more room to run,” analyst Timothy Arcuri wrote on Wednesday. Arcuri raised its price target to $475 from $315 and maintained a Buy rating. Bank of America’s Vivek Arya also reiterated his Buy rating on the stock and raised his price target to $450 from $340. The analyst said the AI leader was on track to hit “1 trillion or more,” referring to its market capitalization, noting that the current quarter’s outlook upgrade was the largest in its coverage. Citi also maintained its buy rating and raised its target price from $363 to $420. Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo also have an overweight rating on the stock, with a price target of $450. Additionally, Baird upgraded its stock to Outperform and raised its price target from $300 to $475. Analyst Tristan Gerra noted that Nvidia has “no clear near-term competitive threat,” adding: “Google’s next-generation TPU may be competitive, but it may not expand its existing footprint, while other vertical integration plans lag behind. We see no one with a full-stack solution remotely matching Nvidia’s capabilities.” However, Deutsche Bank is not as excited as other banks. The bank maintained its hold rating on the stock, saying it was waiting for more attractive entry points after the year-to-date rebound and current premium valuations. It raised its price target to $390, just 1.5 percent above Thursday morning’s share price. To be sure, analyst Ross Seymore was also impressed by the chipmaker’s earnings. “Wow,” said Seymour. “While NVDA’s F1Q report was quite a success, it paled in comparison to the company’s F2Q guidance, with a staggering 50%+ q/q revenue growth, generating the single biggest prospect ‘beat’ we can recall,” he said in a note on Wednesday. NVDA 1D Peaks Nvidia Stock Soars – CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.