Nvidia, a leading technology company based in Santa Clara, California, has reported an impressive surge in its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. The company’s specialized Blackwell chips, which power advanced artificial intelligence systems, have seen increasing demand, driving Nvidia’s stock higher after hours. For the three months ending January 26, Nvidia posted a revenue of $39.3 billion, marking a 12% increase from the previous quarter and a remarkable 78% growth compared to the same period last year. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 89 cents per share. Nvidia’s success is attributed to its rapid production of Blackwell AI supercomputers and the growing significance of data centers in its revenue stream. Analysts had projected adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share on revenue of $38.1 billion, but Nvidia surpassed these expectations.
The rise in Nvidia's fortunes is closely tied to the escalating demand for Blackwell chips, which are pivotal for training AI models. According to Jensen Huang, Nvidia's founder, the demand for Blackwell is extraordinary as reasoning AI introduces new scaling laws. Increasing computational power for training enhances model intelligence, while more compute for long thinking improves answer quality. The company has ramped up massive-scale production of Blackwell AI supercomputers, achieving significant sales within its first quarter. Huang emphasized that AI advancements are occurring at unprecedented speeds, with agentic AI and physical AI setting the stage for the next wave of innovation that will revolutionize major industries.
Data center sales have been a cornerstone of Nvidia’s revenue growth. In the fourth quarter, data center revenue reached $35.6 billion, representing a 93% increase from the previous year. This growth coincides with President Trump's initiative to invest up to $500 billion in infrastructure related to AI through a partnership involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. The Stargate project aims to build out data centers and energy generation facilities essential for AI development, with Nvidia playing a key role in this venture. During an earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress highlighted that Blackwell sales exceeded expectations, generating $11 billion in the fourth quarter—Nvidia’s fastest product ramp in history. Large cloud service providers accounted for approximately half of the data center revenue.
Nvidia has emerged as a symbol of the AI boom, growing into the second-largest company on Wall Street with a market value exceeding $3 trillion. Two years ago, its market value was below $600 billion. Despite concerns about high inflation and potential economic challenges due to tariffs and other policies, Nvidia and similar companies have contributed significantly to the S&P 500's recent records. Tariffs remain an uncertainty, but Nvidia awaits further clarification from the administration to comply with export controls or tariff rules. The company also acknowledged DeepSeek’s development of a cost-effective large language model, praising it as an excellent advancement that has sparked global enthusiasm. Huang noted that nearly every AI developer is now applying techniques inspired by DeepSeek to enhance their models' performance.
Looking ahead, Huang envisions the next wave of AI, encompassing agentic AI for enterprises, physical AI for robotics, and sovereign AI for regional ecosystems. Nvidia stands at the forefront of these developments, ready to propel the industry into new realms of innovation. The company’s achievements underscore its pivotal role in shaping the future of AI technology.