Equity Research Report

Quantitative Scoring Engine v5.1 — 1 Ticker

Date: 18 August 2026Horizon: 1-2 yearsEngine: stock_researcher v5.1

Executive Summary

TickerPriceVerdictConvictionScoreBase TargetUpsideFortress
NVDA$225.01CAUTIOUS YES5/106.9$270+20%Decent

NVDA NVIDIA Corporation Technology CAUTIOUS YES — 5/10
Conviction
5/10

Overall: ALL PASSED

GateDetail
✓ G1 Price Data$225.01
✓ G2 Market CapMarket Cap: $5.45T
✓ G3 Price History251 trading days (min: 100)
✓ G4 OptionsOptions available (21 expirations)
✓ G5 DelistingNo delisting signals
Fundamentals (40%)9.28/10
FactorWeightRaw ValueScore (0–10)Contribution
Revenue Growth25%85.2% [consistent] MEASURED10.02.500
Gross Margin15%74.1% [+2.5pp YoY] MEASURED10.01.500
Operating Margin15%65.6% [+4.8pp YoY] MEASURED10.01.500
Fcf Yield10%0.9% (growth adj) MEASURED4.80.478
Roic15%ROA=52.7% (ROIC fallback) MEASURED10.01.500
Debt Health10%ND/EBITDA=-0.2x, ICR=647.6x, CR=3.44 MEASURED10.01.000
Earnings Trajectory10%EPS(T)=6.53, EPS(F)=12.80, Fwd=+96% MEASURED8.00.800
Technicals (15%)3.88/10
FactorWeightRaw ValueScore (0–10)Contribution
Trend Alignment25%below 50-DMA, below 200-DMA, death cross, ADX=nan MEASURED1.50.375
Mean Reversion25%RSI=63 (warming up) MEASURED4.51.125
Momentum20%MACD above signal, histogram positive, ROC=nan% (strong down) MEASURED5.41.080
Positioning Sentiment20%SI=1.3% (low), P/C=N/A NO DATA4.00.800
Volume Confirmation10%RVOL=0.7x MEASURED5.00.500
Fortress Fit (30%)5.60/10
FactorWeightRaw ValueScore (0–10)Contribution
Iv Richness35%~39% (HV, capped) MEASURED5.01.750
Iv Vs Hv10%N/A NO DATA4.00.400
Beta Gap Risk10%2.21 MEASURED8.00.800
Gap History10%Worst day: -6.2%, >5% drops: 2 MEASURED7.00.700
Capital Outlay5%$22,501 per 100 shares MEASURED9.00.450
Entry Timing10%LEAPS available, earnings in 8d (IV elevated) MEASURED5.00.500
Options Liquidity20%near-term OI: no data, LEAPS OI: no data NO DATA5.01.000
Valuation (15%)6.30/10
FactorWeightRaw ValueScore (0–10)Contribution
Forward Pe30%17.5x MEASURED7.02.100
Peg Ratio20%0.62 MEASURED8.01.600
Ev Ebitda20%32.7x MEASURED4.00.800
Analyst Upside15%+34.6% to $303 MEASURED7.51.125
Ps Or Pb15%P/S=21.5x (asset-light) MEASURED4.50.675
Fundamentals 9.3 Technicals 3.9 Fortress Fit 5.6 Valuation 6.3 6.9Composite Score
PillarScoreWeightContribution
Fundamentals (40%)9.2840%3.712
Technicals (15%)3.8815%0.582
Fortress Fit (30%)5.6030%1.680
Valuation (15%)6.3015%0.945
Composite Score6.92
▶ Raw Data Fetched (click to expand)
FieldValueSource
Price225.01yfinance/IBKR
Market Cap$5.45Tyfinance
IV (IBKR)IBKR live
IV (yfinance)yfinance options
HV 30d39.3%computed
Beta2.215yfinance
Revenue Growth85.2%yfinance
Gross Margin74.1%yfinance
Operating Margin65.6%yfinance
FCF$46.34Byfinance
ROE (ref)114.3%yfinance
ROA (ref)52.7%yfinance
Total EquityN/Ayfinance
D/E Ratio6.55yfinance
Current Ratio3.44yfinance
EPS Trailing6.53yfinance
EPS Forward12.80yfinance
Earnings Growth214.5%yfinance
Fwd P/E17.53yfinance
PEG Ratio0.62yfinance
EV/EBITDA32.66yfinance
P/S Ratio21.50yfinance
P/B Ratio (ref)27.88yfinance
Analyst Target$302.82758yfinance
Near-term ATM OI— (closed/no chain)~45d chain
LEAPS ATM OI— (closed/no LEAPS)~?d chain
Near-term Spread %~45d chain
Has LEAPSYesyfinance
Next Earnings2026-08-27yfinance
Worst 1-Day Drop-6.2%price history
>5% Drop Days2price history
RSI 1463.0computed
MACD5.28computed
ADX 14N/Acomputed
Relative Volume0.68computed
52W High$236.54yfinance
52W Low$164.07yfinance
1Y Return+nan%yfinance
⚠ yfinance IV 0.0% failed sanity check
AI Qualitative Flag: The quant model does not explicitly capture near-term earnings-event risk beyond the entry timing factor. With earnings in 8 days and a death cross already in place, initiating a large Fortress structure right before this print carries asymmetric event risk that a trader should weigh manually, consider waiting for the print to pass or sizing initial entry smaller than the conviction score alone would suggest.
▲ LEANING STRETCHED
NVDA is technically stretched with a death cross in place and earnings imminent, making this a weak near-term entry point despite strong underlying fundamentals.
90-Day Price
$184 $235
Price
$225.01
Market Cap
$5.4T
P/E (TTM)
34.46x
Fwd P/E
17.53x
Revenue
$253.49B
Rev Growth
85.2%
Gross Margin
74.1%
EPS (TTM)
6.53
30d IV
~39.3% (HV)
IV Source
HV Fallback ⚠
HV (30d)
39.3%
Beta
2.21
Worst Day
-6.2%
52W Range
$164.07-$236.54
1Y Return
+nan%
FCF
$46.34B
Next Earnings
2026-08-27

Investment Thesis

NVIDIA's composite score of 6.9 lands it in Cautious Yes territory, driven by a split between exceptional fundamentals and weaker technical and fortress readings. The Fundamentals pillar scores 9.3, near perfect, on the back of 85.2% revenue growth, 74.1% gross margin (+2.5pp YoY), 65.6% operating margin (+4.8pp YoY), pristine balance sheet health (ND/EBITDA of -0.2x, interest coverage of 647.6x), and forward EPS growth of 96%. This is one of the strongest fundamental profiles you will find in mega cap tech. Valuation at 6.3 is reasonable rather than cheap, forward P/E of 17.5x and a PEG of 0.62 look attractive given the growth rate, but EV/EBITDA of 32.7x and P/S of 21.5x show the market has already priced in a lot of the growth story. The drag comes from Technicals (3.9) and Fortress Fit (5.6). Technicals are weak because price sits below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages with a death cross formed, trend alignment scores just 1.5. Momentum and mean reversion are middling (RSI 63, MACD positive but ROC data unreliable). Fortress Fit at 5.6 is held down by unmeasured IV-vs-HV context (defaulted, not a negative signal) and mediocre entry timing given earnings in 8 days with elevated IV. Per the hard override rule, Fortress Fit under a stronger threshold caps the verdict at Cautious Yes and conviction at 5, which is exactly what happened here despite the fundamentals being nearly best-in-class. Bottom line: this is a fundamentally excellent company trading into a technically messy and event-risk-laden setup. The scoring reflects a real tension: you want to own NVDA for the long term, but the near-term technical picture and impending earnings volatility argue against rushing into a large structure right now.

Technicals

Current Price$225.01
50 DMAnan (below)
200 DMAnan (below)
RSI (14)63.0 (neutral)
Stochastic RSI95 (overbought)
MACD5.283 (signal: 3.643)
ADX (14)nan (no trend / ranging)
Bollinger (20,2)nan / nan / nan
BB %BN/A%
Relative Volume0.68x
% From 52W High-4.9%

Price is at $225.01, comfortably within the 52-week range of $164.07 to $236.54 but has broken below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, with a death cross confirmed, this is the primary reason the Technicals pillar sits at just 3.9/10. RSI of 63 suggests the stock is warming up rather than oversold or overbought, and MACD is positive with a positive histogram, hinting at emerging short-term momentum, but ADX and ROC data were unavailable (nan), reducing confidence in trend strength readings. No clean support or resistance levels were identified in the data. The positioning signal reads Leaning Stretched, and combined with earnings in 8 days and elevated IV, this is not an ideal moment to initiate a large LEAPS structure. Volume confirmation is unremarkable (RVOL 0.7x, below average), suggesting the current price action lacks strong conviction from participants either direction. Waiting for post-earnings clarity or a better technical setup (reclaiming the 50-DMA) would improve entry quality.

ScenarioPrice TargetTimelineRationale
Bear$16512-18 monthsA guidance disappointment or margin compression from competitive pressure (custom silicon, AI capex slowdown) could see the stock retest the low end of its 52-week range.
Base$27012-18 monthsContinued execution on datacenter and AI demand supports EPS growth toward the $12.80 forward estimate, with multiple expansion modest given already-rich EV/EBITDA.
Bull$32018-24 monthsSustained hyperscaler capex, new product cycles (Blackwell successors), and margin durability push the stock past the current analyst average target of $302.83.

Key Risks

The biggest near-term risk is the earnings event in 8 days combined with an already technically weak chart, a death cross plus a miss or soft guidance could trigger a sharp drawdown given the stock's high beta of 2.215 and history of gap moves (worst single day was -6.2%). Valuation, while not extreme, leaves little room for error at 32.7x EV/EBITDA and 21.5x P/S. Structurally, NVDA's fundamentals depend heavily on continued AI capex from a concentrated set of hyperscaler customers, any slowdown or diversification away from NVIDIA's silicon (custom ASICs from Google, Amazon, Meta) represents a longer-term competitive risk not fully captured in the backward-looking margin and growth numbers.

Fortress Suitability: Decent

Fortress Fit scores 5.6/10, a middling result driven by strong capital efficiency (capital outlay scores 9.0, cost is high in absolute dollars per 100 shares but efficient relative to price) and gap history (7.0) offset by weak entry timing (5.0, earnings in 8 days with elevated IV) and two factors that defaulted due to missing data: IV-vs-HV (4.0) and options liquidity (5.0), both of which could not be properly assessed rather than being measured as poor. Note that IV data quality is flagged as hv_fallback, meaning implied volatility figures are being approximated from historical volatility rather than live options market data, this is a meaningful data limitation that reduces confidence in the fortress structure pricing and should be independently verified against live option chains before sizing a position. Beta gap risk (8.0) reflects NVDA's high beta of 2.21, which cuts both ways for LEAPS structures, elevated premium income potential but also elevated tail risk around earnings.


Disclaimer: This report is auto-generated for informational purposes only. Verdicts and conviction scores are computed by a deterministic quantitative scoring engine (4-pillar model with hard gates). Narrative sections are generated by Anthropic Claude and may contain errors. Fundamental data from Yahoo Finance. IV data from IBKR (where available) or Yahoo Finance options. All data subject to delays. Options trading involves substantial risk. Always do your own due diligence.