Nvidia delivered better-than-expected sales and earnings for the fourth quarter, along with strong guidance for the current quarter. the fourth quarter ended January 26, 2025, of $39.3 billion was up 12% from the previous quarter and up 78% from a year ago.
The chipmaker’s revenue increase in the past year was primarily due to the high demand for its GPUs in the artificial intelligence sector. Blackwell AI supercomputers production has increased, generating billions in sales in its first quarter, paving the way for the next wave of AI to revolutionize major industries.
“The new Blackwell AI chips set a sales record, contributing $11 billion in their debut quarter—31% of data center revenue—making them NVIDIA’s fastest-growing product ever. CEO Jensen Huang emphasized in the earnings call that demand for Blackwell is ‘exceptionally strong,’ particularly in AI inference applications,” says Dilin Wu Research Strategist at Pepperstone.
NVIDIA’s outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 shows Revenue is expected to be $43.0 billion and GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 70.6% and 71.0%, respectively.
Data Center showed impressive growth with fourth-quarter revenue recording $35.6 billion, up 16% from the previous quarter and up 93% from a year ago. Full-year revenue rose 142% to a record $115.2 billion.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted the increasing market role of artificial intelligence and the surge in demand for its solutions following post-training of AI models. “Huang mentioned three key areas where Nvidia will focus its development: agency AI, physical AI, and sovereign AI.
These innovations represent the next step in automation and process simulation, with applications in industries such as robotics, industrial simulation, and digital service personalization,” says Antonio Di Giacomo, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com.
Nvidia’s results came after market close and trades in the after-hours were not so encouraging. However, in the pre-market session on Thursday, Nvidia stock is in green and up by 1%.
“What seems to be driving the share reaction is that it’s yet another typical Nvidia report where they beat and raise expectations. For them to have this track record of doing that every time, in some way almost works against them as the market is not impressed unless it is a blowout beat and raise. Just beating and raising is not good enough for this stock to get going to the upside in a meaningful way,” says Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management.
Nvidia sees adjusted gross margin of 71% this quarter, below estimates. This could also be a big reason for the stock to remain subdued. Also, fourth-quarter gaming, networking revenues were down from a year earlier.
However, the new Blackwell product has resolved supply-chain issues and generated more revenue than anticipated. Nvidia predicts a rebound in profitability in the second half of 2025, despite narrower gross margins due to the cost of rushing out new products. Chinese startup DeepSeek’s innovative approach to AI model perfection is expected to increase demand for computing and Nvidia’s chips, according to CEO Jensen Huang. Huang highlighted that Blackwell’s newest chip generation significantly enhances inference in the majority of their compute today.
The next key event for Nvidia is the Nvidia GTC conference to be held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, in San Jose, CA, March 16–21, 2025.
Nvidia GTC is the premier developer conference at the heart of AI. It’s where developers, researchers, creators, IT decision-makers, business leaders, and students gather to see real-world examples of how AI and accelerated computing are helping tackle the world’s toughest challenges and enabling industries to flourish.
How the Nvidia stock opens on Thursday, remains to be seen.
