Nvidia beats Q4 estimates, gives stronger-than-expected Q1 forecast

Nvidia stock jumped after it reported a record quarter and added about $190 billion in market value. The company reported record quarterly revenue of $68.1 billion, the highest in its history. Nvidia said its next quarter revenue could reach about $79.6 billion, which is higher than market expectations. The company’s data center business grew about 1,200% since ChatGPT-4, showing huge AI demand.

NVDA reported a very high gross profit margin of around 75%, showing strong profits. The company generated $34.9 billion in free cash flow, which increased by about $20 billion compared to last year. Nvidia shares crossed $200 per share after the earnings announcement. The company reported earnings per share of $1.62, beating the expected $1.53, as per Yahoo Finance.

Nvidia revenue growth

Analysts expected $65.8 billion revenue, but Nvidia beat it with $68.1 billion.Last year in the same quarter, Nvidia had only $39.3 billion revenue and $0.89 EPS, showing massive growth. The data center business alone earned $62.3 billion, beating forecasts. — Source: Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said big cloud companies (hyperscalers) made up over 50% of data center sales. Data center compute revenue grew 58%, and networking revenue jumped 263%.

Nvidia will soon host its GTC 2026 event where it may announce new AI products. The company recently launched a new AI superchip called Vera Rubin at CES. Nvidia also signed a big multi-year AI chip deal with Meta, as stated by Yahoo Finance. Nvidia will supply Meta with Blackwell and Rubin AI processors and server CPUs. Despite strong results, Nvidia stock was only up about 5% in 2026 so far.

Nvidia and AI competition

This performance is still better than Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom, but lower than Intel. Expert Gene Munster said investors are debating whether the AI boom is just starting or slowing down, as noted by Deepwater Asset Management blog. Big tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft may spend about $650 billion on AI in 2026, which will help Nvidia.

Nvidia’s gaming revenue was $3.7 billion, slightly below expectations. Reports say Nvidia may launch its own laptop CPU, competing with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, as cited by The Verge. Nvidia’s full-year 2026 revenue reached $215.9 billion, up 65% year-over-year. The company returned $41.1 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.

Nvidia expects around $78 billion revenue in Q1 2027, higher than analyst estimates, as noted by TipRanks. Analysts currently give Nvidia stock a Strong Buy rating with high price targets. Nvidia’s earnings are seen as a key signal for the entire AI industry, because it leads the AI chip market.

FAQs

Q1. Why did Nvidia stock go up?

Nvidia stock went up because the company reported very high revenue, strong profits, and positive future growth guidance.

Q2. What is helping Nvidia grow so fast?

Nvidia is growing fast mainly because of huge demand for its AI chips used in data centers and cloud companies.