Nvidia, Fed minutes, Anthropic IPO test AI selloff in 48 hours

The setup is unusual because three separate catalysts compress into a single 48-hour window. Nvidia reports Tuesday after the close, the Fed publishes minutes from its October 27 to 28 meeting on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, and Anthropic expects to price its IPO later that Wednesday, with trading under ticker ANT on Nasdaq on Thursday subject to regulatory clearance.

Nvidia's report carries an extra layer: it is the last full quarter under Jensen Huang, who resigned as CEO on November 12, leaving finance chief Colette Kress as interim CEO. A precedent for interim handovers — after Intel put its finance chief in charge in 2018, its stock lost 11.7% that year. Expectations remain high regardless: Zacks consensus puts EPS at $2.49 on $108.99 billion in revenue, and analysts have nudged that EPS figure up by a penny over the past 60 days. A result that only matches guidance could still disappoint.

The Anthropic deal also ties back to Nvidia. Seven firms, including Nvidia, agreed to buy $26 billion of non-voting stock in a placement alongside the IPO. At the top of its range, Anthropic would be worth up to $1.4 trillion, fully diluted — below the roughly $2 trillion it had been looking toward. CNBC's Jim Cramer has said a real recovery in AI stocks hinges on Anthropic's IPO, and if both Nvidia and Anthropic land well, the AI selloff could start to ease, with relief possibly reaching crypto, which fell alongside AI stocks in early November. A hawkish tone in the Fed minutes, however, could still cap any rebound.