NVIDIA, the Jetson module is ready to go into space

NVIDIA

Aitech, a manufacturer of rugged computers for military, aerospace and space applications, recently announced that it has leveraged NVIDIA's Jetson TX2i System-On-Module (SoM) for its off-the-shelf commercial S-A1760 Venus ( COTS) which can be used for spacecraft and small satellites and offers about 1TFLOP FP32 of "AI performance". There is a growing need for advanced imaging and data processing in various space applications, but equipping a small satellite with a high-performance, radiation-resistant computer is extremely expensive, since tiny satellites are supposed to be light and tiny. This is where Aitech's S-A1760 Venus system comes in.

According to Aitech, the S-A1760 Venus is intended for "short duration space flights" and near-Earth Orbit (NEO) satellite applications and in low earth orbit (LEO). Its best use is "signal and video processing in distributed systems". At the heart of NVIDIA's Jetson TX2i SoM is the Tegra X2 System-On-Chip (SoC) which integrates two or four Cortex-A57 CPU cores for general use. It also uses the GP10B GPU, based on the Pascal architecture, with 256 CUDA cores that provide performance up to 1.26 FP32 TFLOP (about 1TFLOP in the case of the S-A1760 Venus) for AI or image processing. The Tegra X2 can also connect up to six cameras (12 via virtual channels) and encode / decode up to 1/2 HEVC 4Kp60 or 4/20 1080p60 video streams simultaneously.

Credit: Aitech NVIDIA's Tegra X2 SoC is not radiation resistant, but with adequate protection it can still be used for some space applications. Aitech's S-A1760 Venus system has passed the Series 300 level qualification standard, which identifies the radiation tolerance of space components and systems not used in deep space or long range applications. The Jetson TX2i module comes with 8GB of 128-bit LPDDR4 memory and 32GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. In addition, there is a GbE connector, a UART serial, USB 2.0, CANbus and a DVI / HDMI video output. Video capture capabilities include an HD-SDI input with dedicated H.264 encoder and eight RS-170A (NTSC) / PAL composite channels.

An interesting thing to note about Aitech's S-A1760 Venus system is the fact that it will be the first NVIDIA SoC-based solution to arrive on satellites. But it's not the first time we've seen NVIDIA space-ready technology. Some Lenovo ThinkPads are certified for use on the International Space Station, and historically these PCs have used graphics processors from ATI Technologies (now AMD) and NVIDIA.

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Nvidia Stock Is Not a Name to Trade, It’s One To Hold Forever

© Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Scorching Hot, Overvalued Nvda Stock Still Looks Like a Buy

That’s right, I’m borrowing Jim Cramer’s famed line on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL): “Don’t trade Apple, just own it.” That’s how I view Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), although NVDA stock does tend to be a bit more volatile than Apple. 

© Provided by InvestorPlace Scorching Hot, Overvalued Nvda Stock Still Looks Like a Buy

Apple is the largest tech company in the world, but it was prone to wide swoons and big shifts in sentiment when Cramer coined the phrase several years ago.

For Nvidia though, I simply see too much long-term runway with this company to ignore it. 

CONSTELLATION BRANDS, INC.

The swoons in the stock price and sentiment have come, and will continue to come, with Nvidia too. While skillful investors can trade around it, I look at Nvidia as a core position just like many looked at Apple as a core position several years ago.

Apple now sports a $2.5 trillion market capitalization. That may be a bit high of expectations for Nvidia, but even with its $500 billion market cap, I think it still has upside. 

Backbone of Technology

Nvidia might be known for its GPUs and for its impact on the gaming industry. Obviously, gaming is a big part of Nvidia’s business and it’s what helped put it on the map. Similar things can be said of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD). 

However, Nvidia’s GPUs aren’t just being used for computer graphics and gaming power. They are being used in all sorts of applications far larger than gaming.

Nvidia’s products are being used to power autonomous driving solutions for all sorts of different logistics companies and automakers. They’re being used in cloud computing, data centers, artificial intelligence and machine learning, drones, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, healthcare, super-computing and more. 

The list goes on and on.

The point is, it’s not just a few companies using Nvidia’s products. The company didn’t get to a $500 billion market cap by catering to just a few end markets — it caters to everyone. 

When thousands of companies, brands and technologies build their products and services on the back of Nvidia’s products, it makes the latter indispensable.

In that sense, Nvidia is becoming the backbone of countless technologies, businesses, services and products. That’s why regardless of market swoons or sentiment shifts, this is a name I want to continue to own. While its pending acquisition of Arm is expensive — at $40 billion — this too will grow Nvidia’s footprint and make it that much more indispensable.

Bottom Line on NVDA Stock

The main reason that I like NVDA stock is laid out above — it’s the backbone and pillar to so many current and future technologies. The other reason I like Nvidia? The way consensus estimates have been wildly conservative. 

The magnitude of the beats just keeps piling on both the earnings and the revenue side. Look at the last six quarters worth of earnings results: 

EPS Result EPS Estimate Beat 3.66 3.28 +0.38 (beat by 11.6%) 3.10 2.80 +0.30 (10.7%) 2.91 2.56 +0.35 (13.7%) 2.18 1.96 +0.22 (11.2%) 1.80 1.68 +0.12 (7.1%) 1.89 1.68 +0.21 (12.5%)

On the revenue front, it’s a similar situation. Only expectations have been drastically behind. At the start of 2020 — in other words, before Covid — analysts’ were expecting about $10.8 billion full-year sales. The company did $16.67 billion. 

At the start of 2021 — in other words, well into Covid — consensus expectations called for full-year sales of roughly $16.5 billion. Those estimates now sit at about $25 billion.

Friends, the numbers don’t lie. It’s clear that Nvidia is outperforming even the rosiest of expectations.

In that sense, the company’s results are several years ahead of where the market was expecting. That helps explain why the stock exploded higher and why each dip has been a gift for long-term bulls. 

Trading Nvidia © Provided by InvestorPlace Daily chart of NVDA stock

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Source: Chart courtesy of TrendSpider

While the move has been strong, keep in mind, the stock consolidated for almost a year before the recent rally.

This rally was coming eventually. We will continue to remain long NVDA stock as the company continues to outperform. 

As for the technicals, Nvidia’s looking pretty good. Shares climbed up to $208.75 in early July before suffering a quick pullback. However, that pullback was a buying opportunity in NVDA stock, as shares are now back above $200. 

From here, let’s see if the stock can take out its highs near $209 and continue to push higher. If so, the $225 to $227 area may be in play for NVDA stock. That’s about where the 161.8% extension comes into play. 

Otherwise, let’s look for a dip to the 50-day moving average as a buying opportunity. Below that and the recent low near $180 may be on the table. Again, NVDA stock is a name I want to own, with or without timing its price movements. 

On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell held a long position in NVDA. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell.