Late at night, all markets surged! A major news story sparks a frenzy!

Super track suddenly explodes.

Inspired by the news that Zimbabwe has suspended exports of lithium ore, after the US stock market opened tonight, lithium mining stocks surged across the board, with Sigma Lithium soaring over 33% at one point, and Albemarle Corporation rising over 10%. On the news, Zimbabwe announced that it will suspend exports of lithium concentrate and raw ore starting immediately, with the local resource localization strategy exceeding expectations. The country’s lithium reserves reach 1.26 billion tons, making it a major global supplier.

Additionally, as concerns about the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) ease, most large US tech stocks gained strength, with Nvidia rising over 1% at one point. The US stock market is currently highly focused on Nvidia’s upcoming quarterly earnings report, which will be released after the market closes on Wednesday (early Thursday Beijing time). The market generally expects Nvidia’s performance to be very impressive, and anticipates that Nvidia will raise its guidance for the next few quarters.

Lithium mining stocks surge across the board

On the evening of February 25, Beijing time, the three major US stock indices opened higher collectively, with lithium mining stocks surging across the board. Sigma Lithium soared over 33% at one point, and as of the time of writing, it increased by 31.43%. Albemarle Corporation rose over 9%, Lithium Argentina AG increased over 6%, and Chilean mining chemical stocks rose over 4%.

On the news front, Zimbabwe, the world’s fourth-largest lithium producer, announced that it will suspend all exports of raw ore and lithium concentrate starting immediately, including goods already in transit. The ban will last until further notice.

The country’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Polite Chambamutira, stated on Wednesday that the ban is effective immediately, and the lifting time depends on whether mining companies meet government requirements, but no specific timetable was given.

This marks a key step forward in Zimbabwe’s push for local processing of mineral resources. The country has also initiated plans to produce lithium sulfate by 2026.

Official data shows Zimbabwe’s lithium mineral resources are estimated at 1.26 billion tons, ranking among the top globally and making it one of Africa’s most important lithium regions. In recent years, with large-scale foreign investment in mining development, Zimbabwe has rapidly risen as a major global supplier of lithium concentrate. The export ban will directly impact overseas refining companies relying on Zimbabwean raw materials, leading to a reshuffle in the global lithium supply chain.

Meanwhile, most large US tech stocks rose, with Tesla and Broadcom up over 2%, Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle up over 1%, and Nvidia and Amazon close to 1%. US storage chip stocks also gained strength, with Western Digital surging over 5%, Seagate Technology up over 4%, and Micron Technology up over 2%.

Currently, the US stock market is highly focused on Nvidia, the global leader in AI, which is about to release its fiscal year 2025 fourth quarter earnings report. This will directly determine the sustainability of the tech stock rebound.

“The most important earnings report in the world” approaches

According to the schedule, after the US stock market closes on Wednesday (early Thursday Beijing time), Nvidia will release its highly anticipated fourth quarter and full-year earnings report.

Against the backdrop of rising skepticism about AI, this earnings report will largely determine market sentiment regarding AI’s prospects.

Wall Street consensus is that Nvidia’s performance will remain very strong, and it is expected to raise its guidance for the next few quarters.

According to TradingView data, Wall Street expects Nvidia’s revenue for Q4 to continue growing rapidly to $63.6 billion, up 68.3% year-over-year, though possibly below last year’s 77.9% growth.

Matt Weller, Chief Global Research Officer at CGS-CIMB, warned that if Nvidia’s earnings merely meet expectations, it is unlikely to push the stock price higher, especially if the guidance is conservative, which could further fuel concerns about a slowdown in AI capital expenditure.

Weller predicts that Nvidia’s stock price may first react to its guidance, then to any comments on the progress of Blackwell’s capacity ramp-up, and finally to any changes in the company’s gross margin trajectory.

From a valuation perspective, Nvidia’s forward P/E ratio has fallen below 24, approaching its lowest in five years and well below the five-year average of 38. Will McMahon, Chief Stock Strategist at MFA Wealth, believes that the relatively low valuation could serve as a catalyst for buying.

Some analysts believe that for Nvidia’s stock price to restart its upward trend, CEO Jensen Huang must tell a compelling new story, especially regarding market share defense.

Matt Stucky, Chief Investment Officer of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, said that fundamentally, Nvidia’s story remains strong, but the key question is whether market sentiment can keep up. In the long run, boosting sentiment depends on whether Huang can convincingly argue that Nvidia will continue to dominate the “reasoning market,” which is central to its long-term logic.