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Key Points

• Strong quarterly results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms are lifting Nvidia stock today.

• AI-related services and technologies helped power sales and earnings beats for Microsoft and Meta, and that's good news for Nvidia.

• Capital spending updates from Microsoft and Meta suggest that demand for Nvidia's AI processors remains very high.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) stock is rising Thursday amid a bullish backdrop for the broader market. The company's share price was up 4.4% as of 1:15 p.m. ET. At the same point in the day's trading, the S&P 500 index was up 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite had risen 1.8%. Earlier in the session, Nvidia stock had been up as much as 5.5%.

Microsoft and Meta Platforms reported quarterly results after the market closed yesterday, and strong results and guidance from both companies is helping to push Nvidia's valuation higher today. But even with today's gains, Nvidia stock is still down roughly 24% year to date as of this writing.

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Is Nvidia stock a buy right now?

Microsoft is reportedly Nvidia's biggest customer, and Meta is said to be the artificial intelligence (AI) hardware leader's second-biggest client. With their recent quarterly reports, Microsoft and Meta have helped bolster the bull case for Nvidia stock. In addition to posting sales and earnings beats that were heavily driven by AI technologies and services, both companies signaled that they are continuing to spend heavily on artificial intelligence processors.

Microsoft reported non-GAAP (adjusted) capital expenditures (capex) of $16.75 billion in the third quarter of its current fiscal year, which ended March 31. Capex was up 53% year over year in the period. Meanwhile, the average analyst estimate had called for capex to come in at $16.37 billion.

Meta's new capex forecast also brought good news for Nvidia investors. The social media giant now forecasts its capex for this year to be between $64 billion and $72 billion -- a big leap from its previous guidance for between $60 billion and $65 billion.

Microsoft's and Meta's capital expenditures are heavily focused on expanding their AI infrastructures, and Nvidia's advanced processors are the key hardware that underpins success in the space. The new capex data appears to mute the significance of recent reports that Microsoft and other tech giants were scaling back their data center plans and suggests that demand for AI hardware continues to be very strong. So while Nvidia stock will likely continue to see volatility in conjunction with moves for the broader market, the long-term investment thesis appears to be intact.