Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD) shares fell in pre-market trading as investors weighed strong fourth-quarter earnings against signs of slowing growth.
The chipmaker posted revenue of $39.33 billion, ahead of analyst forecasts, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.89 also beating expectations.
Its first-quarter guidance of $43 billion signals confidence in sustained demand for AI processors, yet marks a slowdown from the meteoric growth seen last year.
The data centre unit, now 91% of total sales, saw revenue jump 93% to $35.6 billion, driven by sales of its Hopper and next-generation Blackwell AI chips.
CEO Jensen Huang called demand for Blackwell “amazing.” However, gross margins declined due to rising production costs, and networking revenue fell 9%.
Followers of the tech giant were more guarded in their assessment. Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, summed up the mood.
“At face value, Nvidia is clearly enjoying a purple patch given that sales and earnings continue to grow strongly and the AI theme remains intact," he said.
"But more investors are going to be asking if all the easy money has now been made on the shares.
"You will need to have been hiding under a rock to not know about the AI opportunity, so will there still be a large queue of people wanting to buy now, when Nvidia’s shares have already risen by 800% since the start of 2023?”
Ahead of the bell, the stock was down 1.5% at $131.28. On a market capitalisation of $3.22 billion, that's a $48 billion dent to its valuation.