Nvidia shattered Wall Street’s already-high expectations Wednesday, reporting $96.2 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue, up 106% from a year earlier and well above the roughly $92 billion analysts had forecast. Adjusted earnings came in at $2.22 per share against a $2.09 estimate.
Data Center Revenue Drove the Beat
Nvidia’s data center segment, the AI-chip business that has become the company’s core growth engine, brought in $89 billion, up 117% year-over-year. Net income hit $59.7 billion, up 126% from a year ago, with gross margin holding at 75%. CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s next-generation “Vera Rubin” platform is already in production, and CFO Colette Kress guided to roughly $108 billion in third-quarter revenue, a forecast built with zero contribution assumed from China, where U.S. export restrictions have continued to weigh on sales there.
How the Stock Reacted
Nvidia shares initially dipped in after-hours trading before reversing course and climbing back above the closing price, up roughly 3.5%, as investors digested the strong third-quarter guidance. The stock had fallen for seven straight sessions heading into the report, its longest losing streak since 2022, driven by investor doubts about whether AI infrastructure spending from hyperscalers like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta could keep growing at its current pace. Wednesday’s guidance eased those concerns, at least for now.
What the Report Doesn’t Resolve
Nvidia’s results answer the immediate question of demand, but they don’t settle the broader debate over whether AI infrastructure spending across the industry is generating returns that justify its scale. Because Nvidia sits at the center of that spending cycle, its results are widely treated as a proxy for the health of the AI trade overall, and Wednesday’s numbers extend the company’s streak of beating expectations to five straight quarters.
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