** Shares of Nvidia NVDA.O down 1.4% in afternoon trading ahead of the key AI chipmaker's quarterly results due after the closing bell
** Analysts expect the co to report a rise in quarterly rev to $33.16 bln vs $18.12 bln in the yr-ago qtr, and EPS of 75c/shr vs 40c a yr ago, according to LSEG
** The sales growth could be the slowest growth for the co in six quarters
** "We think the greater mix of H200 revenue drove Oct-Q growth, but all eyes will be on the Blackwell launch," according to CFRA Research, referring to the co's new Blackwell chip
** The co has beaten analysts' rev expectations in all of the past eight reporting periods, per LSEG
** NVDA's median PT is $165.00, based on LSEG, and the stock was last at $144.96
** Analyst recommendations on the stock include 57 "strong buy" or "buy" ratings, six "hold" ratings and no "sell" or "strong sell" ratings, based on LSEG data
** Nvidia options imply an 8.2% swing for the shares, on Thurs, according to options analytics service ORATS; that's in line with the 8.3% avg move the stock has logged on the day after results over the 12 qtrs
** Including the session move, the stock is up 193% for the YTD compared with a roughly 15% gain in the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI in that period
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed)
((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com))
