Nvidia Results Eclipse Analysts' Predictions

Artificial intelligence technology bellwether Nvidia overcame a wave of tariff-driven turbulence to deliver another quarter of robust growth amid feverish demand for its high-powered chips that are making computers seem more human.

• Nvidia earned $18.8 billion, or 76 cents per share, for the period, a 26% increase from the same time last year the AP reports. Revenue surged 69% from a year ago to $44.1 billion. If not for a $4.5 billion charge that Nvidia absorbed to account for the US government's restrictions on its chip sales to China, Nvidia would have made 96 cents per share—far above the 73 cents per share, excluding certain items, envisioned by analysts.

• In another positive sign, Nvidia predicted its revenue for the May-July period would be about $45 billion, roughly the level that investors had been anticipating. The forecast includes an estimated $8 billion loss in sales to China due to the export controls during its fiscal second quarter, after the restrictions cost it about $2.5 billion in revenue during the first quarter.
• "Global demand for NVIDIA's AI infrastructure is incredibly strong," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said.

• The results announced Wednesday for the February-April period came against a backdrop of President Trump's on-again, off-again trade war. Trump's fusillade of tariffs—many of which have been reduced or temporarily suspended—hammered the market values of Nvidia and other tech powerhouses heading into the springtime earnings season as investors fretted about the trade turmoil dimming the industry's prospects.
• But those worries have eased during the past six weeks as most Big Tech companies lived up to or exceeded the analyst projections that steer investors, capped by Nvidia's report for its fiscal first quarter.
• Nvidia's stock jumped around 5% in extended trading after the numbers came out. Nvidia's stock price ended Wednesday's regular trading session at $134.81, just slightly below where it stood before Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration. The price had plunged to as low as $86.62 last month during a nosedive that temporarily erased $1.2 trillion in shareholder wealth.

(More Nvidia stories.)