What Happened?

Shares of semiconductor quality control company Nova (NASDAQ: NVMI) jumped 4.2% in the morning session after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on the stock with an "Equalweight" rating and a $335 price target. While an "Equalweight" rating suggests the stock is expected to perform in line with the average stock in the analyst's coverage universe, the initiation of coverage itself brought new attention to the company. The move also came amid a broader rebound for technology stocks. Sentiment in the sector was lifted by continued optimism surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, which helped push shares of large tech companies higher. Further boosting the industry, NVIDIA disclosed a significant investment in Synopsys, another company in the semiconductor space, signaling strong investor confidence in the sector.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $317.10, up 3.7% from previous close.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

Nova’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 33 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 8 days ago when the stock gained 6% on the news that renewed enthusiasm for Alphabet reinvigorated the artificial intelligence trade, propelling a market rebound heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The Nasdaq index jumped 2.6% and the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, driven by a 5% rally in Alphabet following the announcement of its upgraded Gemini 3 AI model. This optimism spilled over into the broader tech sector, lifting shares of Broadcom, Micron, and Palantir significantly. The rally built on momentum from the previous trading session, sparked by the New York Fed president keeping the door open for a December interest rate cut.

Nova is up 56.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $317.10 per share, it is still trading 9.8% below its 52-week high of $351.58 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Nova’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $4,866.

While Wall Street chases Nvidia at all-time highs, an under-the-radar semiconductor supplier is dominating a critical AI component these giants can’t build without. Click here to access our full research report.