Prediction: The Second Half of 2026 Will Be a Game-Changing Moment for Nvidia

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been one of the biggest artificial intelligence (AI) success stories so far. The company provides a crucial tool -- and one of the highest quality -- used in the development of this technology. This is the graphics processing unit (GPU), a chip that powers important tasks such as the training of models.

The company's GPU strengths and its portfolio of related products and services have helped it to report record levels of earnings quarter after quarter. And this has lifted the stock too, with gains of more than 400% over three years.

Some investors have worried that, after such a performance, Nvidia may lose momentum. It's true that there are plenty of rivals in the AI chip space, from chip designers like Advanced Micro Devices to some of Nvidia's customers, like Amazon, that have created their own chips.

But my prediction is Nvidia will stay ahead of the crowd -- and the second half of this year actually will represent a game-changing moment for the AI giant. Let's take a closer look.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia's GPUs over time

So, first, a bit of background on this market leader and where it stands in today's AI environment. Nvidia's GPUs have been around for decades, and in their early days, they mainly served the gaming market. The company has since expanded their use, and this was made possible by Nvidia's creation of CUDA, a parallel computing platform.

And about a decade ago, recognizing the AI opportunity, Nvidia tailored its GPUs for this industry. This, along with the creation of other products to support the GPU in its AI tasks, helped Nvidia build an AI empire. In the latest quarter, the company reported an 85% increase in revenue to more than $81 billion. And gross margin has remained pretty consistently above 70%, showing high profitability on sales.

As mentioned, Nvidia isn't alone in the space. Rivals sell GPUs or other similar AI chips, and they, too, have delivered significant growth. Yet Nvidia has maintained its lead, due to its brand strength and the quality of its products, as well as its focus on innovation.

But some investors have wondered how long this will last, particularly as rivals too have been supercharging their innovation engines -- and Nvidia's GPUs carry the highest price tag. Meanwhile, the needs of AI are changing. For example, the early stage of the AI story was all about training models, and for this, the GPU was critical.

The era of AI agents

Today, we're moving into the era of AI agents, involving the actual application of AI to problems. In agentic AI, the AI agent acts as a human would -- considering a problem and taking steps, in many cases multiple steps, to solve it. And to power this process, another type of chip is most needed: the central processing unit (CPU). These are the general chips found in all computers.

Nvidia hasn't been a big player in the CPU market. Intel and AMD have been longtime leaders in this market, but if Nvidia meets its goals, this might change.

And this leads me to my prediction. The second half of the year could be a key moment for Nvidia because it plans to take two game-changing steps: It aims to release its Vera Rubin platform for data centers, and this includes the company's first-ever stand-alone CPU. And, for the PC market, it aims to release a new superchip, the Nvidia RTX Spark. This chip, including an Nvidia GPU and an Nvidia CPU, will launch in Windows laptops this fall from Microsoft, Dell, and others.

So, as of the second half, Nvidia will advance in the CPU market in a big way -- aiming for share in data center CPUs and in the PC market. Nvidia says the stand-alone CPU market is worth about $200 billion, and the company says it's on track for leadership.

The big news here is that Nvidia is maintaining its GPU dominance and eventually may hold a similar position in the broader CPU market. This could greatly increase the company's revenue growth potential over time -- and that's why I predict that the launches of these two CPU products will represent a game-changing moment in the Nvidia story.

Adria Cimino has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.