The explosion in new cryptocurrency seems to be boosting graphics-card makers like Nvidia Corp., but acting on the demand is fraught with potential danger.

When Nvidia NVDA, -2.20% reports earnings for the second quarter of its 2018 fiscal year Thursday, the demand for its graphics cards from cryptocurrency “miners” is expected to be an important topic after reports suggested that there was a run on graphics cards, especially in Eastern Europe and Asia, for use in producing newer forms of the digital currency, notably on the Ethereum blockchain. Nvidia rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, -2.11% admitted in its quarterly earnings report, which beat expectations last month, that demand from the cryptocurrency market was an important factor in its performance, confirming some of the reports.

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The question is how or whether to specifically address this market for graphics cards. Analysts point out that there were surges of demand for graphics cards from cryptocurrency miners previously, but that it quickly dissipated. When that happened, many miners sold their cards on the secondary market, which can hamper demand for new cards and could be especially damaging if the companies increase shipments and suddenly have too much inventory.

Media and analysts reported in late June that Nvidia developed cryptocurrency-specific graphics-processing units, or GPUs, for release this quarter. If that is the case, Nvidia would likely announce the move Thursday in a bet that this crypto boom is different, which would be a different approach than AMD is taking.

“Some of our partners are also offering mining specific cards that have a different feature set, such that we’re really segmenting the market between gaming and mining. But it’s important to say we didn’t have cryptocurrency in our forecast, and we’re not looking at it as a long-term growth driver,” AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su said in her earnings call last month.

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If Nvidia does jump on the cryptocurrency demand in a more focused way than AMD, it could find yet another road to potential growth, along with its booming server business and autonomous-driving efforts. But if demand suddenly disappears, it could end up with too much inventory and a short-term drag on its other businesses.

What to expect

Earnings: Analysts on average expect earnings of 70 cents a share on a GAAP basis, according to FactSet. Contributors at Estimize, which crowdsources estimates from analysts, fund managers, academics and others, are more bullish, with average expectations for adjusted earnings of 76 cents a share. Nvidia has beaten the FactSet consensus for earnings the last seven quarters in a row.

Revenue: Analysts surveyed by FactSet on average expect quarterly revenue of $1.96 billion. Estimize contributors are also more bullish on Nvidia sales, projecting revenue of $1.98 billion on average. Nvidia projected revenue of $1.91 billion to $1.99 billion. The company has beaten FactSet’s consensus revenue projection for eight quarters in a row.

The bulk of Nvidia’s revenue comes from its gaming business, which could include cards sold for cryptocurrency mining, is expected to produce sales of $1.07 billion.

Stock movement: Nvidia stock has nearly tripled in the past year, increasing 191% as the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.11% has gained 13.8%. Analysts have been pushing price targets higher amid the increase, and the average price target has moved from $93.30 at the end of 2016 to $171.31, according to FactSet, in line with Nvidia’s Monday closing price of $172.35. The majority of analysts covering the stock, 19 of 37, have the equivalent of a buy rating on the stock, with five rating it the equivalent of a sell.

Other things to look for

Nvidia truly took a leap on Wall Street after its fiscal second-quarter results a year ago showed strong gains in server and automobile revenue, proof that the company’s focus on artificial intelligence was paying off. As we reach a year since then, comparisons will get tougher.

Server growth, which has been huge for Nvidia, could pause as customers await Nvidia’s new Tesla Volta chips, which Chief Executive Jensen Huang showed off for the first time at the company’s annual developers conference in May. Huang handed out some of the first Tesla V100 chips to researchers at an event last month, but the devices are only available for pre-orders currently, and large customers may be putting off purchases until they can get their hands on the new product.

Nvidia’s automobile segment is still waiting for a serious boost from autonomous-driving efforts. Tesla Inc. TSLA, +4.42% is beginning to produce its Model 3 electric car, which contains Nvidia supercomputers meant to power autonomous driving features, so investors can keep an eye out for early returns from those efforts while they continue to wait for larger revenue expected in the future.

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“We expect autonomous-driving engagement with Tesla to contribute modestly in the near term but expect momentum to pick up in 2H18 as other partnerships including Volvo VOLV.A, -1.04% , Audi NSU, , and Toyota TM, -0.55% begin to contribute meaningfully,” wrote Macquarie analyst Srini Pajjuri, who has a neutral rating and $170 price target on the stock.

Nvidia’s core gaming business, which analysts project will bring in more than half of Nvidia’s total quarterly revenue at $1.07 billion, would likely see the most effect from cryptocurrency mining, since most of those customers are using cards manufactured for gaming. More sales success for Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s 7974, +1.22% new Switch console and continuing growth in e-sports are also expected to help fuel sales of gaming equipment.

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B. Riley analyst Craig Ellis, who increased his price target on Nvidia stock this week to a Street-high $200 from $135, believes Nvidia could beat estimates for revenue by up to $90 million because of strength in gaming.

“Our F2Q basis is led by Gaming where four drivers—new products, an on‐track portable console build, e-sports momentum, and cryptocurrency mining help—should lead F2Q upside, with Auto and Data Center at least in line,” Ellis wrote, while maintaining a buy rating.

Ellis also believes Nvidia’s forecast will top analyst estimates. Heading into the print, B. Riley analysts on average are projecting fiscal third-quarter earnings of 79 cents a share on revenue of $2.14 billion for Nvidia.