'AI Superstar' Nvidia Beats Earnings Expectations... Up 10% in After-Hours Trading (Update)

Q4 Sales Up 265%, Net Profit Up 769%
Leading the 'Tech Stock Rally'?

'Artificial Intelligence (AI) leader' Nvidia delivered another 'surprise performance' in the fourth quarter of last year, exceeding market expectations. Nvidia's stock, which had been adjusted due to overvaluation, jumped more than 10% in after-hours trading following the earnings announcement. The market is paying close attention to the 'tech stock rally' led by Nvidia.

On the 21st (local time), Nvidia announced that its revenue for the fourth quarter of last year (November last year to January this year) reached $22.1 billion, a 265% increase compared to the same period last year.

Net profit recorded $12.3 billion, a 769% increase year-over-year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were reported at $5.16.

This significantly exceeded the market expectations compiled by FactSet. Experts had predicted Nvidia to record $20.4 billion in revenue and an adjusted EPS of $4.59 for the fourth quarter of last year.

Nvidia's annual revenue for last year was $60.9 billion, and its Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) diluted EPS surged 586% year-over-year to $11.93.

The rapid growth in data center revenue, driven by strong sales of the AI semiconductor for servers, the 'H100,' propelled Nvidia's earnings growth. Data center revenue in the fourth quarter of last year reached $18.4 billion, up 27% from the previous quarter and 409% year-over-year.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), stated, "Accelerated computing and generative AI have reached a turning point," adding, "Demand is surging globally across enterprises, industries, and countries." He further said, "Our data center platform is seeing increasingly diverse demand, ranging from large-scale cloud service providers and GPU specialists to enterprise software companies and consumer internet firms," and "Industry sectors led by automotive, financial services, and healthcare have now reached a multi-billion dollar scale."

Nvidia will also pay a cash dividend of $0.04 per share on the 27th of next month.

Prior to the earnings announcement, Nvidia's stock price fell for four consecutive days as profit-taking emerged in the market due to valuation concerns. However, by once again delivering results that exceeded market expectations, it has raised hopes for an AI rally. The market is watching how far Nvidia's stock, which tripled last year and has risen about 36% this year, will climb. Earlier, investment bank Goldman Sachs raised Nvidia's 12-month target price to $800, anticipating continued strong demand for AI servers and data center graphics processing units (GPUs). Currently, Nvidia's stock price is in the $670 range.

However, moves by AI companies to develop their own semiconductors and U.S. government export restrictions on AI semiconductors to China could pose obstacles to future earnings.

Following the earnings announcement that exceeded market expectations, Nvidia's stock is surging more than 10% in current after-hours trading.

Other tech stocks are also rising alongside Nvidia's stock price increase. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which had fallen during regular trading hours, is up 1.27% after the market close, and Microsoft (MS) is rising by 0.2%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.