Jefferies

Nvidia was removed from the 'Jefferies Franchise Picks' list.

The firm said it expects "cloud players to digest Data Center capacity over the next several quarters."

Shares slid 1.2% Friday.

Watch Nvidia trade live.

Nvidia shares were lower by 1.2% Friday after Jefferies removed the chipmaker from its "Franchise Picks" list, saying it expects "cloud players to digest Data Center capacity over the next several quarters." The firm maintained its "buy" rating.

Jefferies says it still views Nvidia as a key beneficiary of its "4th Tectonic Shift" investment thesis as and that over the next 5 years it thinks the aggregate data center processor market will "expand to $50 billion and the parallel processing part of that market will approach $20 billion, and we expect NVDA to capture a large part of that parallel processing market."

Nvidia shares have struggled in the wake of the 2018 crypto bust, tumbling 32% last year as it dealt with an oversupply of graphics processing units that were used for crypto mining. That caused the company to report disappointing third-quarter results in November, missing on both earnings and revenue.

"Our near-term results reflect excess channel inventory post the crypto-currency boom, which will be corrected," CEO Jensen Huang said in the earnings release. In August, the chipmaker warned it expected "essentially no cryptocurrency" business moving forward.

Nvidia has gained 16% this year, including Friday's slide, and was trading near $156 a share.

Markets Insider

NOW WATCH: Japanese lifestyle guru Marie Kondo explains how to organize your home once and never again