NVIDIA, an artificial intelligence (AI) leader, has projected a first-quarter revenue that exceeds Wall Street expectations. The company cites exceptional demand for its newly launched Blackwell chips.
According to its earnings report released on Wednesday, NVIDIA’s revenue for the fourth quarter (November 2024 to January 2025) reached $39.3 billion, a 78% year-over-year increase fueled by strong demand for AI chips. This figure surpassed Reuters’ forecast of $38.4 billion. Earnings per share also exceeded expectations, at $0.89, compared to the anticipated $0.84.
Revenue from the data center segment surged by 93% to $35.6 billion, outperforming the projected $33.59 billion.
For the full 2024 fiscal year, NVIDIA posted a record-breaking $130.5 billion revenue, marking a 114% increase.
Its first-quarter outlook for the fiscal year 2025 also exceeded expectations. NVIDIA forecasts a revenue of $43 billion, surpassing LSEG’s estimate of $41.78 billion—a 65% increase from the previous year. Estimated earnings per share of $0.89 are nearly double the $0.49 recorded in the same period last year.
NVIDIA’s revenue continues to climb as it dominates the AI accelerator market with its data center GPUs, capitalizing on the AI boom.
The company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, commented on the blockbuster earnings and outlook, stating, “AI is advancing at light speed as agentic AI and physical AI set the stage for the next wave of AI to revolutionize the largest industries.” He also expressed surprise at the overwhelming demand for Blackwell.
Huang noted that the company had successfully ramped up mass production of the Blackwell AI supercomputer, generating billions in revenue in its first quarter. Fourth-quarter sales of Blackwell chips reached $11 billion, which NVIDIA described as the fastest product growth in its history.
NVIDIA’s Chief Financial Officer reported that Blackwell sales were led by large cloud service providers, which account for about 50% of the company’s data center revenue.
As global companies compete to become leaders in new technology, demand for NVIDIA’s high-performance chips has soared. Generative AI applications require advanced processors to handle vast amounts of data quickly, and Blackwell has emerged as the most sophisticated option available.
However, NVIDIA’s impressive performance comes amid concerns over excessive AI investments in the U.S.
Some analysts worry that rising cost-efficient AI models like China’s DeepSeek and potential tariff pressures from former President Donald Trump could impact NVIDIA’s future profitability. Major tech companies building AI-powered data centers may opt for DeepSeek instead of NVIDIA’s chips to cut costs.
Additionally, tighter U.S. export restrictions to curb China’s technological advancements could limit NVIDIA’s regional sales. The company’s reliance on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for GPU production exposes it to geopolitical risks.
Despite these concerns, NVIDIA delivered blockbuster results that exceeded expectations, surging its stock. After rising nearly 4% in regular trading, the stock gained another 1.72% in after-hours trading as of 5:45 p.m. New York time.
Jacob Vaughn, a technology analyst at eMarketer, told AFP that despite market anxiety over DeepSeek’s efficient models and initial deployment challenges with Blackwell, this performance reaffirms NVIDIA’s continued leadership in AI.
Vaughn added that while competitors have progressed, cutting-edge AI models still require NVIDIA’s advanced computing power.
