The FTSE 100 was sharply higher on Thursday after AI giant Nvidia beat earnings estimates in the US overnight, and Halma and Games Workshop compounded the uptick in sentiment with strong updates.
The FTSE 100 rose on the developments, trading 0.8% higher at the time of writing.
After a couple of weeks of jittery markets and concerns about AI, global equity investors were provided the reassurance they needed overnight as Nvidia reported Q3 revenues of $57bn and, most importantly, issued positive guidance.
“While bubble fears won’t be completely dispelled by last night’s Nvidia earnings, signs of robust demand mean that investors are able to see the upside from here,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG.
“The 15% stock price drop into earnings, and the accompanying 5% drop in indices, seemed to clear the air nicely, taking out some excessively frothy sentiment. Overall the bulls got what they wanted last night, while bearish investors (hello, Michael Burry) will still be able to argue that such exuberant spending will ultimately end in tears.”
Cloud data centre firms that buy and rent out Nvidia GPUs, including CoreWeave and Nebius, were sharply higher in the US premarket as the AI trade looked to be back on.
Rebounding sentiment around AI fed into a global equity rally, with around 75% of the FTSE 100 constituents trading in positive territory on Thursday.
Games Workshop was the FTSE 100’s top riser, surging 12%, after saying profit before tax would be at least £135m in 2026, up from £126m in 2025.
“A typically short but ultimately sweet trading update from Games Workshop has fired up enthusiasm for the stock in the market today,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“Despite a difficult economic backdrop, the company expects to deliver meaningful growth in profit and revenue in the first half of its financial year.
“Games Workshop’s resilience is underpinned by dedicated fans who collect figures and play its games. This success has led to a valuable library of intellectual property, from which it has been able to drive extra revenue. Some may be impatient with the pace of Games Workshop’s efforts to tap into this potential but the company, quite rightly, is protective of its IP and hesitant about agreeing deals which might alienate devotees and tarnish its reputation.”
Halma shares were up around 12% following the release of half-year results that showed revenue rocketed 15% higher during the period. Investors were also clearly delighted to see adjusted profit before tax surge 29%.
JD Sports was the FTSE 100’s top faller as investors digested another lacklustre trading update that pointed to slowing like-for-like sales. Shares were down 3% at the time of writing.