Live Updates
In about half an hour, the Nvidia GTC 2026 Conference will kick off. Ahead of it, NVDA is gaining momentum, up about $4.55 a share. CEO Jensen Huang is expected to talk about next-gen GPUs, AI, robotics, and more. You can watch parts of the conference with this link: https://www.nvidia.com/gtc/keynote/
Shares of Micron are up about 4.8%, or by $20 a share, ahead of earnings and on news that it acquired Powerchip’s Taiwan P5 manufacturing site, which adds 300,000 sq. ft. of space for DRAM and HBM production. Also, this Wednesday, MU will report earnings with guidance of $18.7 billion in revenue and adjusted EPS of $8.42.
In addition, analysts at Wedbush just raised their price target on the MU stock to $500 from $320, reiterating an outperform rating. The firm also cited stronger-than-expected memory pricing and higher demand for the price target revision.
Analysts at RBC just reiterated an outperform rating on Micron with a $525 price target. The firm noted, “We are raising estimates significantly on continued pricing strength. The key question is about duration—our base case is for pricing to increase through CY26,” as quoted by CNBC.
After another wild week, futures are pointing to a massive open.
At the moment, the S&P 500 is up 1%, or by 67 points. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up 0.87%, or by $5.73. The Dow is up 0.84%, or by 380 points. The Nasdaq is up 1.15%, or by 282 points. Oil is down $3.83 to $94.88. Bitcoin is up $1,040 at $73,860. Gold sits at $5,020.
Oil is dropping after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is allowing Iranian oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Even better, there are reports that the U.S. will announce a coalition of countries to escort ships through the Strait.
Market Movers: Nvidia GTC Conference Could Boost Tech
Nvidia’s GTC conference is set to kick off today through March 19, with analysts reiterating their bullish stances on the tech giant. Morgan Stanley, for example, just reiterated an overweight rating on Nvidia, noting it’s optimistic about NVDSA heading into GTC.
Bank of America recently reiterated a buy rating on Nvidia, with a $300 price target, and flagged key conference catalysts, including its pipeline from the current Vera Rubin platform through to Feynman GPUs. It’s also looking for details on the company’s next-generation 102.4T Spectrum 6-switch and the 115T Quantum-X.
Analysts also expect Nvidia to detail a next-generation AI chip called Feynman, data centers, Nvidia’s chip programming software CUDA, digital assistants, and even physical AI such as robots. He’s also likely to discuss Groq, a chip startup that focuses on inference computing work, in which an AI model takes what it has already learned and uses it to answer a question or make a prediction.
All of which could help reignite tech stocks.
A Trillion-Dollar Defense Boom Is Emerging
With global tensions continuing to rise, defense spending around the world is expected to surge in the coming years. Analysts estimate that global military expenditures could reach approximately $2.6 trillion this year alone. By the end of the decade, that figure is projected to climb to nearly $2.9 trillion.
In the United States, defense spending could see a significant increase as well. President Donald Trump recently proposed a massive $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027. If approved, the proposal would represent a substantial jump from the roughly $900 billion defense budget authorized for 2026. Other countries are also boosting military investments. Canada, for example, has committed approximately $81.8 billion over the next five years to strengthen the capabilities of the Canadian Armed Forces.
From here, global defense spending could rise even more, given the intensifying conflicts with Russia-Ukraine, the Middle East, and increased security issues across Asia and parts of Africa. In addition, NATO allies made a “commitment to investing 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually on core defense requirements and defense- and security-related spending by 2035. They will allocate at least 3.5% of GDP annually based on the agreed definition of NATO defense expenditure by 2035 to resource core defense requirements and to meet the NATO Capability Targets,” as noted by NATO.