While the analyst’s attitudes toward Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) upcoming earnings report tend to be positive, Jim Cramer – otherwise a long-standing bull for the semiconductor giant – warned early on May 20 that the stock is likely to get hammered.
Specifically, the former hedge fund manager and current TV host predicted that in the immediate aftermath of the filing, NVDA shares will see ‘an initial fly-up, lasting 10-12 minutes,’ but that they will then turn red due to ‘a relentless hammering,’ that eventually ‘breaks the chart.’
Notably, however, the latest warning does not mean that Cramer has turned bearish about the blue-chip chipmaker. Indeed, the analyst’s X post references a phenomenon seen with multiple previous events in which apparently strong results lead to an initial rally followed by a sharp downturn.
Indeed, Jim Cramer concluded his writing by voicing his preference for a rally following the print and has, on multiple occasions in the past, stated his surprise and displeasure at the ‘sellers’ during Nvidia’s previous declines.
Wall Street expert accuses analysts of manufacturing post-earnings rallies
Elsewhere, another prominent Wall Street analyst – Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research – explained multiple previous similar sell-offs by pointing toward the derivatives market.
For example, the stock market expert – also known as a grievous Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) bear – explained NVDA stock’s February downturn as resulting from an ‘options wall,’ saying the move resulted from ‘market mechanics’ and not ‘fundamentals’:
NVDA’s stock is falling b/c it needed to clear an options wall of ~$200/shr. So, given A LOT of folks were long calls into the print, & it didn’t clear $200, brokers are selling stock to reverse sold calls. It’s that simple. This isn’t fundamentals. It’s market mechanics.
Still, Gordon Johnson has also been critical of the entire financial analysis industry, effectively accusing Wall Street experts of manufacturing the conditions for an earnings beat and enabling artificial rallies.
“~90% of Wall Street analysts adjust their estimates so companies can beat (every time). Public companies not beating is (very) rare for this reason. Wall Street research, for the most part, is simply an extended “marketing arm” for publicly traded companies. If the mkt ever crashes, this will change (FINRA/SEC/Congress will act like they care),” Johnson wrote in an April 27 X post.
Is Nvidia in danger of collapsing in 2026?
While evidence that analysts are tampering with their forecasts is, at best, circumstantial, Nvidia’s trend for reliably beating consensus estimates – especially when paired with its staggering growth – raises some uncomfortable questions.
Numerous 2026 reports indicate that data center construction is severely lagging relative to initial timelines, while a bottleneck in the production of various components critical for supplying the facilities with energy has led to backlogs greater than 5 years.
Given that the capacity of data centers confirmed as fully or partially operational indicates that a majority of the advanced GPUs Nvidia sold are left unplugged and out of use, there is a genuine possibility that the speed of the firm’s revenue growth is as unsustainable as its recent revenue itself.
Indeed, with most of the Blackwells potentially unused and the more advanced Vera Rubins due for later in 2026, there is a question whether the semiconductor giants’ main corporate clients will remain willing to continue purchasing at scale if their previous investments provided no returns on account of never leaving their boxes.
Jim Cramer consistently bullish and consistently right about Nvidia stock
Lastly, despite the lack of clear communication regarding actual artificial intelligence (AI) revenue, infrastructure issues, and the relatively short shelf-life of advanced semiconductors, making fertile ground for bearish speculation, it is noteworthy that Jim Cramer has been consistently bullish and consistently right about Nvidia.
While AI-related concerns have been a rising narrative in 2026 and despite the most recent correction, NVDA stock remains, at its May 19 press time price of $223.57, 19.88% in the green year-to-date (YTD) and boasts a valuation greater than $5.3 trillion.
Even more impressively, Nvidia shares are up nearly 6,000% since June 2017 – the time when Jim Cramer named his dog after the chipmaker.
Featured image via Shutterstock
