Nvidia shares surged higher in the US pre-market on Thursday as the strength of the chip maker’s Q1 results reassured investors that the king of AI wouldn’t be dethroned anytime soon.

Demonstrating that momentum in AI was still firmly intact, Nvidia recorded 69% revenue growth in Q1 2025 compared to a year ago. Revenue was 12% higher in Q1 than in Q4 2024. Data centre revenue was 73% higher than a year ago at $39.1bn.

Nvidia shares were over 4% higher in the pre-market as investors reacted to the release.

The gains came despite Nvidia shedding further light on the impact of curbs on their exports to China, which resulted in a $4.5bn charge in the first quarter.

The market also took the revision of Nvidia Q2 revenue outlook in its stride. The group now sees revenue at $45bn in Q2, despite wiping off $8bn in revenue due to export controls. Revenue of $45bn still represents quarter-on-quarter growth.

“In a quarter of uncertainty, Nvidia has reminded markets why it is the cornerstone of the AI revolution with another solid result and upbeat forecast,” said Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro.

“Investors came into this quarter looking for signs that Nvidia could alleviate short-term concerns. What they got was a clear message that demand remains robust, Blackwell is ramping up fast and these results will restore investor confidence. Despite the China drag, Nvidia’s top-line strength speaks for itself with USD$44 billion in Q1 sales and another USD$45 billion expected next quarter tells us they’re making up for the China loss elsewhere.”

Perhaps there is a school of thought the curbs on exports won’t last long, or investors are confident that global demand for Nvidia’s chip will make up for lost opportunity in China. Nonetheless, Nvidia investors and the wider market will be more than happy with the share price reaction. 

From an operation highlights perspective, Nvidia is developing the Stargate infrastructure cluster in Abu Dhabi alongside partners OpenAI and Oracle.

The group is also planning to build factories in the USA under mounting pressure from Donald Trump. New product launches include the DGX SuperPod, which is designed to power agentic AI reasoning.  

The FTSE 100 was trading in a holding pattern on Wednesday after a strong rally in US stocks overnight as markets paused for breath and investors geared up for the release of Nvidia results after the US bell later tonight.

London’s leading index was trading flat at the time of writing after trading in a tight range for most of the session.

Nvidia’s results have become a major event in traders’ calendars due to their importance to the AI trade that has propelled US equity market higher over the past two years. A significant beat or miss of Nvidia earnings expectations has the power to drive global equity trade, and investors are becoming increasingly wary going into the release.

“The FTSE 100 ticked higher after an increase in US consumer confidence and a delay on the punishing EU tariffs announced by the Trump administration helped US stocks to surge overnight,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“However, with US futures pointing to some retrenchment when Wall Street resumes trading later, it’s clear there is still some latent nervousness in the market.

“Quite a lot may ride on Nvidia’s results later, with investors likely to be watching the numbers and particularly the outlook closely to see what impact, if any, tariff uncertainty is having on the business.”

In the UK, there was a nearly 50:50 split between FTSE 100 gainers and losers at the time of writing, with little in the way of major movers.

Kingfisher was the top corporate story. Shares fell 2.3% after the DIY group released Q1 results that confirmed the positive impact of favourable UK weather conditions, but poor performance in France gave investors a reason to be cautious.

“There were some rays of sunshine in the first quarter for B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher, with sales rising 1.8% across the group but there’s still concern about the longer-term picture,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The update indicates there was strong demand for seasonal products in the UK and Ireland, even before the May heatwave took hold. This has helped boost revenues by 5.9%, sharply higher than forecasts.”

Endeavour Mining is regularly in the FTSE 100’s top losers or gainers as traders use the stock as a risk sentiment proxy. The potenital risk presented by Nvidia’s results and the general risk-off positioning sent the gold miner to the top of the leaderboard with a 1% gain.

It’s sometimes better to travel to arrive when investing in equities, and that has proved to be the case for Kingfisher shares after a strong start to the year.

Kingfisher shares had rallied going into the release of today’s Q1 trading update after peers reported strong results amid better weather conditions in the UK. Kingfisher produced similarly strong results with UK & Ireland reported sales rising 6.1%, helping to offset a 4.9% decline in France.

“Although the deteriorating performance in France wasn’t quite as bad as expected, revenues from its operations in Poland were much weaker than forecast, with both markets showing sales decline of 3.2%,” explained Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown

Kingfisher group Q1 sales came in at £3.3 billion, rising 2.2% at constant currency, despite a negative 0.9% calendar impact. This represented underlying total sales growth of 3.1%. Like-for-like sales increased 1.8%, with underlying growth of 2.7%.

Volume and transaction growth were driven by seasonal categories, which had a positive mix impact on average selling prices. Retail price inflation remained flat during the period.

“It seems Britons’ first impulse on seeing the sun is to start doing some DIY, if Kingfisher’s results are any indication,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG.

“A set of poor numbers in France was offset by UK consumers spending their unexpected early summer in Kingfisher’s stores, helping to lift like-for-like sales by 1.8%. Up 16% so far this year, the shares have been a haven from tariff volatility, though the update didn’t offer much to extend the rally in the short term.”

As alluded to by Beauchamp, Kingfisher shares dropped over 2% as the group reaffirmed guidance and offered investors little to be excited about other than better weather in the UK.

Pets at Home Group has announced its preliminary results for the financial year ending 27 March 2025, revealing a tale of two divisions as the company navigated challenging market conditions.

Shares were fairly flat on Wednesday after the pet retailer and veterinary services provider reported group consumer revenue growth of 2.7% to £1.96bn.

CEO Lyssa McGowan said the group was becoming a ‘true pet care platform’ after a period of transformation. The term ‘platform’ relates to a focus on subscriptions, which are up 30%, and recurring revenues. The strength in subscriptions and the vets business has been essential in offsetting disappointing performance in the retail stores.

The vets business delivered consumer revenue growth of 13% to record levels. This growth was driven by increased customer visits, higher average transaction values, and substantial expansion in Care Plan revenues. Statutory revenues for the veterinary division rose 16.8% to £175.3 million on a like-for-like basis of 16.2%.

In contrast, the retail division revenue declined 1.8%. The segment was impacted by subdued growth in the pet sector, reflecting a challenging UK consumer environment, deflationary pressures, and normalising levels of new pet ownership following the pandemic boom.

Retail revenues fell 1.8% to £1.31 billion, with like-for-like revenue down 2.0%.

Overall group statutory revenues increased marginally by 0.1% to £1.48 billion, with like-for-like revenue declining 0.4%. Group underlying profit before tax rose 0.7% to £133.0 million, in line with company guidance, representing a margin improvement of 5 basis points.

“A ‘tail’ of two halves for Pets at Home this morning, as the retail side of the business continues to struggle due to tightened discretionary spending caused by the increased cost of living. As such, the purchases of new collars, beds or other toys and accessories are being scaled back from the family budget,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst at eToro.

“Pets at home are putting their best paw forward with the veterinary side of the business, which is continuing to show robust growth. This has helped offset weaker retail performance and brought overall results in line with market expectations. Pre-tax profit and earnings per share rose, reflecting operational resilience despite a challenging macro environment.”

Defence Holdings shares rose on Tuesday after the recently pivoted company announced a five-year strategic plan designed to capitalise on Europe’s expanding defence priorities.

Defence Holdings’ plan will target high-growth segments within the global defence market, which is currently valued at approximately $2.2 trillion.

The company was formerly Guild Esports and has shifted focus after Guild failed to secure financing to keep operations running and disposed of its gaming assets. Guild Esports was backed by David Beckham.

Defence Holdings’ strategic framework centres on drone warfare and aggregation, AI agents for defence operations, information and influence warfare, and critical infrastructure defence. These pillars reflect Europe’s renewed emphasis on sovereign defence capability whilst maintaining full NATO interoperability.

James Norwood, incoming Chairman of Defence Holdings PLC, highlighted the timeliness of their strategic shift. “Defence Holdings’ Five-Year Strategic Plan arrives at a defining moment for the UK and European defence landscape,” he said. Norwood has an extensive military background as a Royal Navy officer and subsequent experience advancing next-generation programmes at Raytheon Technologies.

Defence Holdings has set out its shop against a backdrop of significantly increased European defence spending following geopolitical tensions and security challenges.

Defence Holdings outlined a product-studio and buy-and-build model designed to capture opportunities within software-led defence segments across the UK and continental Europe. The company explained its five-year timeframe provides Defence Holdings with ample time to scale operations whilst maintaining agility in responding to emerging security requirements across European markets.

“Our new 5-year strategic plan sets a clear path for sustainable growth and value creation,” said Brian Stockbridge, Board Member of Defence Holdings.

“By focusing on disciplined investment, innovative product development and proactive management, we are confident in our ability to deliver long-term returns for our stakeholders and position the company at the forefront of our sector.  I am particularly proud of the exceptional calibre of board members we have assembled – leaders with deep expertise across defence, technology, and capital markets.”

The FTSE 100 surged higher on Tuesday after Donald Trump’s latest retreat in his scatter gun approach to trade policy. 

In another seemingly manufactured dip buying opportunity, equities bounced back from a short, sharp selloff caused by the latest assault on global trade by Donald Trump. 

Last week, a social media post outlining a 50% tariff on EU imports stopped the global equity market rally in its tracks, sending US and European equities into a one-day tailspin. 

However, over the weekend, Trump eased market tensions by delaying the 50% tariffs from 1st June to 9th July. The delaying of tariffs is becoming a familiar playbook for the President, and global equity markets are becoming wise to the V-shape recoveries that have followed initial sell-offs.

Major equity indices recovered most of their losses after Donald Trump pulled back from the implementation of Liberation Day tariffs, and the latest attack on the EU has proved to be a smaller-scale repeat of the price action seen since the beginning of April.

Today’s rally has pushed the FTSE 100 within reach of its all-time highs at 8,871, with the index needing less than a 1% gain to trade at never-before-seen levels.

“A mood of cautious relief is spreading after the long weekend, amid hopes for more fruitful trade negotiations between the United States and its global partners,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“There are no post bank holiday blues for the London market, with the Footsie in striking distance of the record high reached in February. More positive vibes are pulsing about the outlook for the global economy, with hopes that more scores can be etched on the doors of trade talks.”

There were few losers on Tuesday, with 91 of the FTSE 100’s constituents trading higher at the time of writing.

Rolls Royce and BAE Systems were among the top risers after Donald Trump and Moscow traded verbal criticism over the weekend that hit hopes of a ceasefire in Ukraine in the short term.

Intermediate Capital Group was the FTSE 100 top riser, gaining 3.9%, as it bounced back from selling after the release of its final results last week. JD Sport was another recovery story that rose more than 2%.

The risk on feel to Tuesday’s FTSE 100 rally left safe-haven stocks out of favour. Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining lost their shine and fell by over 2%. The pair are still among the best-performing FTSE 100 stocks of 2025.