It’s common to head to the bar to watch a hotly anticipated football game. After all, it’s a chance to soak in the heightened atmosphere with other sports fans.
Interest in Nvidia’s quarterly earnings on Wednesday has reached such a fever pitch that it’s even attracting an unofficial watch party at an NYC bar.
The idea started when Lauren Balik, owner of Upright Analytics and co-host of the Tech Bros Show, sent out some feelers on X about renting a bar space to play the earnings call and the subsequent financial commentary.
A few hours later, Balik said it was officially happening and announced it would take place at 3:30 p.m. at the bar Storehouse in Flatiron.
Balik said in the post that 12 people confirmed attendance so far.
She also included a cheeky flyer for the event advertising “party beer,” “Jensen Huang,” and “Projecting Earnings Call Over Speakers.” (To state the obvious, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will decidedly not be in attendance as he’ll be dialing into the earnings call to answer analysts’ questions.)
Balik did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on the event.
The watch party is happening as Wall Street and AI-watchers across the industry are closely looking to Nvidia’s earnings for signs of whether AI investment has begun to peak or still has forward momentum.
Nvidia’s stock has been on a tear amid the AI arms race, and its AI chips continue to be best in class and hard to come by — though rival chipmakers are looking to catch up with their own offerings. Meanwhile, there are concerns that the return on tech companies’ massive AI-related capital expenditures could take too long to bear fruit. Some tech giants, like Google, stated that signficiant AI returns aren’t likely anytime soon.
With Wall Street and others eagerly watching to see whether Nvidia can prove the AI hype train isn’t slowing down anytime soon, it’s no surprise that the company’s earnings will be the most important in years. Analysts predict the chipmaker’s stock price could shift by nearly $300 billion in market value in either direction after it reports its earnings, depending on the results.
And sure, you could tune into Nvidia’s earnings call from the comfort of your office chair or remote-work setup.
But it looks like at least a dozen people are planning to brave the summer heat and take the subway across town to process the results together over some cold drinks at the bar.
Don’t be surprised if some unofficial watch parties crop up in San Francisco too.
