NVDA stock price soars past $190 after Groq deal announcement, but here’s what analysts are saying about the $250 target

NVDA stock price surged past $190 on December 26, 2025, following Nvidia’s historic $20 billion licensing agreement with AI chip startup Groq. The deal marks Nvidia’s largest acquisition ever, targeting the high-speed inference segment of artificial intelligence. With the stock up roughly 40% in 2025, analysts now see $250 as a realistic target by year-end.

The Historic Groq Acquisition Reshapes AI Chip Leadership

Nvidia announced on December 23 that it would license Groq’s proprietary low-latency inference technology in a $20 billion deal. This represents the chipmaker’s largest-ever strategic investment into acquisition and partnership. Groq will license its compiler expertise and hardware designs to Nvidia while remaining an independent company.

The deal includes Groq’s founder and CEO Jonathan Ross joining Nvidia’s leadership team. Nvidia aims to integrate Groq’s inference acceleration capabilities into future Blackwell and Rubin GPU architectures. This move strengthens Nvidia’s dominance in both training and inference workloads.

Stock Performance: 40% Gains and Momentum Building into 2026

NVDA stock delivered approximately 40% returns in 2025, with shares closing at $188.61 on December 24 before rallying past $190 following the Groq announcement. The stock opened December 26 in premarket trading at $190.16, marking a significant milestone for the semiconductor leader. Trading experts note the stock found strong support at $170 recently.

Wall Street sentiment remains exceptionally bullish on Nvidia as the year closes. Multiple analysts have raised price targets, with mean projections reaching $255. The combination of strong 2025 Q3 guidance and the Groq deal announcement has created substantial momentum heading into 2026.

Metric	Value
Current Price (Dec 26)	$190.16 (premarket)
2025 YTD Gain	~40%
Mean Analyst Target	$255.56
2025 Revenue Forecast	$203 billion
Groq Deal Value	$20 billion

Analyst Expectations: Why $250 Looks Achievable by Year-End

Multiple Wall Street analysts raised Nvidia price targets following the Groq announcement. One prominent analyst boosted their target to $250, citing the strategic value of Groq’s inference technology, which addresses one of AI’s biggest challenges. Inference—the cost and speed of running trained AI models—represents perhaps the faster-growing market than training chips.

BernsteinResearch analyst Stacy Rasgon emphasized how the deal addresses the inference side of AI growth, positioning Nvidia to capture value across the entire AI value chain. With $203 billion revenue projected and data-center representing 90% of business, the upside potential remains substantial. Market consensus suggests 41% upside potential from current levels, aligning with $250 targets.

“We still are below the ‘$500 billion in 5 quarters’ voiced by the CEO at the GTC event, but this deal strengthens Nvidia’s position significantly.”

— Wall Street Analyst, regarding Groq deal strategic value

What the Groq Acquisition Means for Nvidia’s 2026 Roadmap

The Groq investment signals Nvidia’s aggressive push into inference acceleration, where competitors like Google TPU have gained meaningful traction. Groq’s compiler technology offers dramatic latency improvements over traditional approaches, making AI applications faster and cheaper to operate at scale. This directly addresses customer demands for cost-effective inference.

Groq executives joining Nvidia brings specialized talent focused on low-latency computing. The non-exclusive nature of the license gives Nvidia flexibility while respecting Groq’s independent operations. This deal comes as Nvidia faces pressure to diversify revenue beyond H100 and B200 GPU chips. Integration of Groq’s technology into Blackwell GPUs could unlock 5-10% additional performance gains.

Could NVDA Stock Really Hit $250 Before the New Year?

With just days remaining in 2025, reaching $250 would require approximately 32% appreciation from December 26’s $190 level. While ambitious, several factors could drive acceleration: year-end portfolio rebalancing, positive earnings revisions, and institutional buying ahead of 2026 guidance. Benzinga overnight trading showed strong volume above $190.

More likely, Nvidia bears witness gradual accumulation toward $250 throughout Q1 2026. The Groq deal success suggests management execution remains exceptional. Wall Street consensus projects $230-$260 range within 12 months. The path depends on quarterly earnings, AI spending momentum, and competitive landscape dynamics.

Sources

• CNBC – Nvidia’s official announcement of $20B Groq deal and licensing agreement
• Yahoo Finance – Stock price analysis and analyst commentary on price targets
• Finbold – Real-time stock price tracking and analyst price target updates