Nvidia smashes forecasts with record quarter as AI boom rolls on

Nvidia has reported blockbuster quarterly results that blew past Wall Street expectations, posting record revenue as insatiable demand for its artificial intelligence chips showed no sign of cooling. Photo / Lionel Bonaventure, AFP

Nvidia has reported blockbuster quarterly results that blew past Wall Street expectations, posting record revenue of US$68.1 billion ($113b) as insatiable demand for its artificial intelligence chips showed no sign of cooling.

The figures – up 73% from a year ago and well above the US$65.7b analysts had forecast – sent a powerful signal that the technology buildout dominated by Nvidia that underpins the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom remains in full swing.

Net income for the quarter more than doubled year-on-year to US$42.96b; the earnings release sent shares surging 5% in after-hours trading.

Nvidia designs the graphics processing units (GPUs) that have become the backbone of the global AI boom.

Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, who remains CEO, the Santa Clara, California-based company commands a market capitalisation exceeding US$4.7 trillion, making it the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

Combined capital expenditure from the four major AI builders – Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft – could approach US$700b this year as the tech giants race to stay ahead in the crucial technology.

A large share of that spending lands at Nvidia, which remains the dominant supplier of the AI chips and technology used to train and deliver generative AI capability.

Huang said Nvidia’s success was being driven by a new phase in AI, in which AI agents that take decisions in place of humans are playing an increasingly important role.

“Computing demand is growing exponentially – the agentic AI inflection point has arrived,” Huang said in a statement.

“Enterprise adoption of agents is skyrocketing.”

The company’s data centre division, which sells the high-powered chips used to train and run AI models, was once again the engine of growth.

Revenue from that segment hit a record US$62.3b in the quarter, up 75% from a year earlier and up 22% from the prior quarter.

For the full fiscal year ending January 25, 2026, Nvidia reported revenue of US$215.9b, up 65% from the previous year, with data centre revenue reaching US$193.7b – a 68% annual gain.

Perhaps more significant for investors was Nvidia’s guidance for the current quarter.

The company said it is not assuming any data centre compute revenue from China in its outlook, an acknowledgment of the ongoing impact of US export controls on its ability to sell advanced chips to the world’s second-largest economy.

The company forecast the current quarter’s revenue at US$78b, plus or minus 2% – comfortably above the roughly US$72b Wall Street had been expecting, and a figure that analysts said would go a long way toward silencing doubts about the durability of AI infrastructure spending.

Considered a main bellwether for the AI phenomenon, the recurring question for Nvidia is whether the boom will continue to accelerate as the technology takes over more corners of the broader economy.

Despite increased volatility around AI on Wall Street, Nvidia shares are up by more than 50% over the past year, though were up just 2.2% in the year to date, before the latest earnings.

– Agence France-Presse