Nvidia a cheap play on visual computing-Barron's

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Absent a collapse in demand for personal computers, graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp is a cheap way to bet on the rise of visual computing, following a 46 percent drop in its share price this year, Barron's said in its March 24 edition.

According to the newspaper, Nvidia is not as exposed to broader economic forces as its main rivals, Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc's ATI.

Barron's said visual computing seems to be holding up better than business computing. It said Nvidia's target is not the corporate desktop and notebook market at Intel's core, but such buyers as animators, architects, artists, designers, gamers and video editors.

With a market value of $10.5 billion, Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia is trading at 2.2 times current year revenue and 11 times earnings, Barron's said.

According to Reuters Estimates, analysts on average expect profit per share to rise 14 percent in the fiscal year ending January 2009 and 10 percent the following year, with revenue up 17 percent and 8 percent, respectively.