News

Key Points

• Nvidia just reported fourth-quarter results that were robust by any measure.

• The results confirm the ongoing demand for AI.

• Nvidia's unprecedented growth appears poised to continue.

When it comes to powering artificial intelligence (AI), there's Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), then there's everyone else. As the leading provider of graphics processing units (GPUs) that underpin AI, Nvidia is viewed as a bellwether for AI adoption.

As such, the company's quarterly financial report has become critically important for understanding the current state of AI. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang just handed down the company's financial report as the latest and most definitive update on the matter.

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The results are conclusive

Some investors feared that Nvidia's financial results might stall, but sales actually accelerated. For its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter (ended Jan. 25), the company generated record revenue of $68 billion, up 73% year over year and 20% quarter over quarter. This drove adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.62, which surged 82%. The results were partially driven by Nvidia's impressive gross margin of 75%.

For context, analysts' consensus estimates were calling for revenue of $66.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.54, so Nvidia cleared both hurdles with ease.

The data center segment, which includes chips used for high-performance computing, cloud computing, AI, and (as the name implies) data centers, delivered another record-setting performance. Segment revenue of $62.3 billion soared 75% year over year and 22% sequentially.

The gaming segment -- which was once Nvidia's bread and butter -- also turned in a strong performance, though it's now dwarfed by the data center segment. Gaming revenue totaled $3.7 billion, up 47% year over year. Comments by CFO Colette Kress signaled the growing shift to AI, saying, "We expect supply constraints to be a headwind to gaming in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 and beyond."

CEO Jensen Huang left no doubt as to what was driving the results, noting that its next-generation processors will extend its lead. "Computing demand is growing exponentially -- the agentic AI inflection point has arrived. Grace Blackwell with NVLink is the king of inference today -- delivering an order-of-magnitude lower cost per token -- and Vera Rubin will extend that leadership even further." He went on to say, "Enterprise adoption of agents is skyrocketing. Our customers are racing to invest in AI compute -- the factories powering the AI industrial revolution and their future growth."

The death of AI has been greatly exaggerated

Management's outlook suggests the accelerating sales will continue into the first quarter. Nvidia's forecast calls for revenue of $78 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 77%, up from the current quarter's growth rate of 73%. The company is also guiding for its gross margin to remain steady, at 74.9% at the midpoint of its guidance.

Taken together, this should put to rest any talk about a slowdown in AI. Now that Huang has handed down Nvidia's spectacular results, it appears the company's future prospects have just improved. And at less than 25 times forward earnings, Nvidia stock is attractively priced.

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Danny Vena, CPA has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.