Nvidia reported quarterly results that handily topped Wall Street expectations, sending the stock sharply higher in after-hours trading.

CEO Jensen Huang left no doubt as to what was fueling the results. He noted that sales of the company's AI-centric Blackwell chips were "off the charts," and that the graphics processing units (GPUs) used by cloud operators were "sold out." This helps illustrate that customers are buying up these processors as fast as Nvidia can supply them.

Gap’s Old Navy brand continues to draw value-focused shoppers, while its namesake brand attracts more high-income and Gen Z consumers, Chief Executive Richard Dickson said. The retailer also said it has sold more of its items at full price, which it expects to drive further growth during the holiday shopping season.

Investors have lately been a bit sour on tech stocks, but not today: The tech-focused Nasdaq is in the green, and shares of Nvidia are gaining ahead of the highly anticipated release of the chip giant's earnings report.

The S&P 500 Index erased much of its earlier gains to trade little changed on Friday as Nvidia Corp. and several other megacap stocks fell on revived concern about stretched valuations and the risk of an AI bubble.

Wall Street analysts are forecasting substantial upside in Meta Platforms, MercadoLibre, and Circle Internet Group.

Nvidia’s third-quarter earnings beat initially alleviated AI-bubble fears, but tech stocks slipped as markets digested economic data.

Nvidia is the poster child of the stock market's AI-driven ascent to record highs, so all eyes were laser-focused on its latest earnings report. The AI King delivered the goods, besting Wall Street analysts' top and bottom-line estimates, and offering bullish guidance. Investors reacted kindly... at first.