Nvidia’s revenue exceeds analysts’ forecasts, which expected revenues of $54 billion. Compared to the second quarter, the $57 billion is an increase of 22 percent.
Operating profit rose 65 percent to more than $36 billion. The bottom line left a net profit of $31.9 billion, also an increase of 65 percent. Analysts expected an increase of about 50 percent.
‘Demand is growing exponentially’
“The demand for computing power continues to increase and training and inference are increasing, both of which are growing exponentially,” says Huang. “We have entered the virtuous cycle of AI. The AI ecosystem is scaling rapidly – with more new basic model makers, more AI start-ups, in more sectors and in more countries. AI is going everywhere, doing everything at once.”
Graphics processors from the cloud services company are “sold out,” according to Huang.
Indispensable supplier
Nvidia is the indispensable supplier to the global AI boom. Almost all major tech companies – Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta – run their data centers and AI models on Nvidia chips. The company not only supplies the hardware, but also tools with which AI systems can be built. As a result, Nvidia has grown from a maker of graphics cards to the beating heart of the AI industry.
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Because everyone wants the same chips, orders are piling up. The demand is so high that customers sometimes have to wait months. Moreover, for most companies there is hardly an alternative: those who want to train large AI models almost always end up at Nvidia. That enormous demand creates enormous income. Nvidia is making so much money that it even announced a new $60 billion stock buyback program earlier this year.
Dominant role
But this dominant role also means that all eyes are focused on the quarterly figures. These not only show how Nvidia is doing, but are seen as a thermometer for the entire AI market. Is demand continuing to grow, or is it starting to cool down? That is why a figure update from Nvidia is eagerly awaited worldwide.
Nvidia’s figures serve as a barometer of the broader AI sector, because they indicate how much money tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google are investing in chips for data centers. Nvidia already managed to gain 2.9 percent on Wall Street on Wednesday in the run-up to the figures. The share made a price jump of 3.9 percent three quarters of an hour after closing.