Nvidia stuns Wall Street with profits up 769%
Nvidia's unstoppable juggernaut powered to new milestones this week with the announcement that quarterly profits hit $12.3 billion.
In Q4, Nvidia posted revenue of USD 22.1 billion – that's a 22% increase from the previous quarter and a 265% surge from last year. This surpassed estimates by USD 1.55 billion. Meanwhile net income was USD 12.3 billion, a surge of 769%.
And Nvidia is confident it can keep growing. The company forecast its revenue in the current quarter will hit USD 24 billion, way ahead of current estimates.
The company's story is pretty remarkable, growing from a niche maker of graphics chips for specialised gaming machines to the firm whose chip designs train huge AI models for Microsoft, Meta and others. Nvidia's Data Centre business, which includes the company's H100 graphics cards, posted sales of USD 18.4 billion alone in the fourth quarter, representing 409% year-on-year growth.
The firm's rocket ship growth ensured its share price rose around 230% in 2023 to make Nvidia the top performing S&P 500 stock of the year. Goldman Sachs analysts called Nvidia “the most important stock on planet earth.” Shares jumped nearly 7% in after-hours trading following Wednesday’s filing but fell back by 4% on Thursday.
Nvidia looks set to have another stellar year. However it does face the usual challenge of over-hype – and also competition from customers-turned-rivals – in the hot AI space. And then there's the China issue, where Nvidia has to find ways to make sales without breaking US sanctions.
