London open: Stocks steady as investors mull Nvidia earnings
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 28 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Thursday, with US chip maker Nvidia in focus after its shares fell despite better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, as uncertainty about the outlook for China sales weighed.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 9,255.85.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The main story capturing attention comes from the biggest company in the world, as Nvidia released its latest results last night. Shares have held onto overnight losses, despite an upbeat earnings call, as the absence of China sales in guidance surprised investors.
"Remarkably, revenue still surged at an unprecedented pace without contributions from one of its key markets, while management struck a confident tone on demand for AI chips and the scaling of Blackwell and Blackwell Ultra. If licensing issues are resolved, China could add $2-5 billion to Q3 revenue on top of the $54 billion guidance. Apples to apples, this guide was a good clip ahead of consensus, which had built in a few billion dollars' worth of Chinese sales, leaving plenty of room for positive upside over the coming months.
"Smart investors will look through the noise. Nvidia has a history of soft trading on earnings day, only to do all the heavy lifting after markets have had time to digest the results. The law of large numbers seems irrelevant here - despite its scale, Nvidia continues to defy expectations as consensus underestimates the opportunity at hand."
In equity markets, IT infrastructure firm Softcat rallied after saying it expects to deliver high-teens growth in full-year gross profits and mid-teens growth in FY operating profits as it continued to trade well during the fourth quarter, supported by further conversion of larger solutions projects.
Precision engineering group Hunting was in the red as it held full-year guidance but cautioned that market uncertainty could impact results.
Drax tumbled after saying it's being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority over statements regarding biomass sourcing.
In a brief statement, the company said the regulator has begun an investigation covering the period from January 2022 to March 2024.
It relates to certain historical statements about Drax's biomass sourcing "and the compliance of Drax's 2021, 2022 and 2023 annual reports with the Listing Rules and Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules".
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