Trump Visits China, Jensen Boards Air Force One: How to Trade?
The Wall Street Journal confirmed the latest additions to Trump's business delegation for the China visit. $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ CEO Musk, $Apple(AAPL)$ CEO Cook, $GE Aerospace(GE)$ CEO Larry Culp, and $Boeing(BA)$ CEO Kelly Ortberg are all attending.
Bloomberg then reported that $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ CEO Jensen Huang joined as a last-minute addition, boarding Air Force One during an Alaska fuel stop. NVIDIA confirmed: "Jensen accepted President Trump's invitation to attend the summit in support of the US and the goals of this Administration."
Jensen on Air Force One: what's the signal?
The White House's original 16-person delegation already covered tech, finance, aviation, and agriculture — Musk ($TSLA$), Cook ($AAPL$), the CEOs of Qualcomm and Micron, plus the heads of Citi, Goldman, and Blackstone. Jensen was added after the list was finalized. That tells you one specific agenda item came up late: semiconductor and AI compute exports.
Since 2022, US export controls have effectively shut NVIDIA out of the Chinese high-end GPU market. Jensen going to Beijing personally suggests that may be changing.
Which semiconductor CEO in the delegation gets the most direct benefit?
$Micron Technology(MU)$ — CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in the delegation
Down -3.6% yesterday, pre-market +6.0% to $812. China is the world's largest DRAM and NAND end-market, and Micron's most politically sensitive revenue line. US-China tech friction cooling = Chinese datacenter orders reopening + supply/demand gap still intact = highest earnings leverage in the delegation.
$Qualcomm(QCOM)$ — CEO in the delegation
Fell -11.5% yesterday, pre-market bouncing +5.8%. Qualcomm historically derives ~60%+ of revenue from China — the highest China exposure of any major US semiconductor company. Yesterday's selloff amplifies today's political bounce. For QCOM, every step of US-China de-escalation is a direct revenue event.
$NVIDIA (NVDA)$ — CEO personally on the delegation
China was once NVIDIA's largest single regional market before H100/A100 export bans erased that line almost entirely. Any form of export exemption or new product licensing from this summit = potential incremental revenue counted in the tens of billions.
$Apple (AAPL)$ — Cook in the delegation
Manufacturing supply chain + consumer market, both tied to China. Cook's trip is primarily about supply chain stability and in-market sales — less optionality than pure semis, but reducing systematic risk is a long-term positive.
NVIDIA earnings May 20: the bar is already loaded
Latest bank price targets:
Citi projects Q1 revenue $80B (vs Street $78.6B), FY27 AI GPU revenue $284B (+79% YoY), B300 FY27 shipments raised to 7.3M units (+9%). AI accelerator C2028E TAM raised from $523B to $603B.
9 of the past 12 quarters, NVIDIA beat by over $1B. Goldman's FY28 EPS is 34% above Street consensus. Wells Fargo's 2029 datacenter revenue estimate: $625B.
Goldman: the bar for outperformance into this print "is relatively high" after TSMC and SK Hynix supply chain signals pre-loaded the tape. Jensen in Beijing may be the one variable nobody modeled.
How do you read the US-China trade signal?
Will there be a chip policy win? AI export relaxation or just supply chain stability pledges?
$$NVD$$ pre-market +2.2%, bank targets up to $315, May 20 earnings — worried about "buy the rumor, sell the news"?
Or does the trip open a new leg of upside the market hasn't priced yet?
Leave your comments to win tiger coins~
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
While corporate heavyweights like Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang joined the high-level presidential entourage last-minute to lobby for market access, an outright policy reversal on high-end semiconductors is highly improbable.
The current market dynamic suggests that near-term geopolitical headlines pose a tactical "sell the news" risk, but structural cloud capital expenditure unlocks the next fundamental leg higher.
Treat any dip caused by a lack of an export policy "breakthrough" in China as a buying opportunity ahead of May 20, as domestic hyper-scaler infrastructure spending remains the core engine of the stock's march toward the ~$315 consensus target.
How do you read the US-China trade signal?
Will there be a chip policy win? AI export relaxation or just supply chain stability pledges?
$$NVD$$ pre-market +2.2%, bank targets up to $315, May 20 earnings — worried about "buy the rumor, sell the news"?
Or does the trip open a new leg of upside the market hasn't priced yet?
Leave your comments to win tiger coins~
I think $Micron Technology(MU)$ and $Qualcomm(QCOM)$ may actually see the fastest direct earnings benefit from improving US-China relations because of their large China exposure. For NVIDIA, the upside is massive, but expectations going into May 20 earnings are already extremely high, so “buy the rumor, sell the news” remains a real risk after the recent rally.
Long term though, I still believe the AI infrastructure cycle has much more room to run. Even small progress on export licensing or supply chain cooperation could become a new catalyst the market hasn’t fully priced in yet.
@TigerStars @Tiger_comments @TigerClub
Fell -11.5% yesterday, pre-market bouncing +5.8%. Qualcomm historically derives ~60%+ of revenue from China — the highest China exposure of any major US semiconductor company. Yesterday's selloff amplifies today's political bounce. For QCOM, every step of US-China de-escalation is a direct revenue event.
Watch for breakthroughs on AI exports/rare earths. Sell the news if vague outcomes. High volatility—use options or tight stops. NVDA focus despite Huang not attending.