Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) does not need to sustain its explosive growth to deliver another major gain for shareholders, according to one investment chief who believes the market may be underestimating how large the chipmaker can become. Her argument challenges a common investor reflex: treating decelerating growth as a warning sign, even when a company continues to expand earnings at a healthy pace.
Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments, believes Nvidia could double over the next five to 10 years even if its earnings growth eventually cools to 20% or 30%. “If it decelerates to 20% or 30% you are still growing,” she said in emailed comments, arguing that slower growth does not necessarily mean the stock has run out of upside.
Slower Growth Isn’t Stalled Growth
Tengler cited Nvidia’s earnings growth of 96%, which she expects to decelerate to 70% the following year, before potentially settling at 20% to 30%. Those figures reflect her stated outlook and should not be confused with company guidance.
Her broader argument is that percentage growth naturally becomes harder to sustain as a business gets larger. Even at a slower rate, a company with a substantial earnings base can continue adding significant profits.
Tengler pointed to Microsoft Corp‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure cloud business as an example of how deceleration need not derail a stock. “We went through that with Azure, and the stock was still able to perform,” she said.
The comparison offers a useful lens for Nvidia investors. The question is not simply whether growth slows, but whether demand for its chips and related computing infrastructure remains strong enough to support earnings expansion as the business scales.
A Value Case for Nvidia?
Tengler also challenged the assumption that a large technology company cannot qualify as a value investment. She said Nvidia was trading at a 13.5 earnings multiple when her firm added it to its value portfolio earlier in the summer. That is her historical valuation reference, not a current multiple.
“We put it in our value portfolio,” Tengler said of Nvidia. She added that the firm had recently done the same with Meta and had invested in Alphabet two years earlier.
Her reasoning rests on the potential for these companies to keep growing despite their size. “These are really big companies but they can double in size,” she said. “There’s nothing that says they can’t.”
That remains a thesis, not a guarantee. Nvidia could face slower AI infrastructure spending, stronger competition or weaker returns on customers’ AI investments. Any of those developments could pressure earnings expectations and the valuation investors are willing to pay.
What Investors Should Watch
The central question is whether Nvidia can sustain meaningful earnings growth as its business matures. Investors should watch data-center demand, customer spending and profitability for evidence that expansion remains durable.
Tengler’s case is that Nvidia need not repeat its extraordinary growth rates to reward shareholders—but the stock’s long-term upside still depends on earnings delivering, rather than investors simply believing that it will.
Photo Courtesy: PJ McDonnell on Shutterstock.com
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