Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD) has delivered another blockbuster quarter, reporting record first-quarter revenue of US$81.6 billion, up 85% year-on-year, as demand for its artificial intelligence chips continued to dominate global data centre spending.
Despite topping Wall Street expectations and forecasting second-quarter revenue above consensus, the market reaction was subdued, with investors appearing increasingly difficult to impress after years of growth from the AI heavyweight.
Shares edged 1.1% higher in after-hours trading to US$221.05.
Data centre boom drives growth
The California-based chipmaker, now the world’s most valuable listed company with a market capitalisation of about US$5.4 trillion, generated record data centre revenue of US$75.2 billion for the quarter, up 92% from a year earlier.
Chief executive Jensen Huang said the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure continued to underpin growth.
“The buildout of AI factories — the largest infrastructure expansion in human history — is accelerating at extraordinary speed,” Huang said.
“Agentic AI has arrived, doing productive work, generating real value, and scaling rapidly across companies and industries.”
Nvidia forecast June-quarter revenue of US$91 billion, ahead of analyst expectations of US$86.84 billion, while also announcing a sharp increase in its quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share from 1 cent and authorising a further US$80 billion in share buybacks.
eToro APAC lead analyst Josh Gilbert said the company continued to deliver remarkable growth metrics despite its enormous scale.
“For a company of this size to still deliver that level of growth is staggering,” Gilbert said.
He noted that the result also highlighted Nvidia’s diversification beyond graphics processing units (GPUs), with networking revenue reaching US$14.8 billion, ahead of expectations of US$12.7 billion.
“That’s key, because as AI factories get built out at scale, the networking layer can become a serious growth engine in its own right,” Gilbert said.
Investors want more than ‘garden variety’ beats
Analysts said the muted market reaction reflected how elevated expectations have become around Nvidia’s earnings performance.
Capital.com senior financial analyst Kyle Rodda described the result as “a typical beat” for the company.
“It was a garden variety beat, a better-than-expected top and bottom line with guidance above the street estimate,” Rodda said.
He added that the strong result had been “well telegraphed” by earlier earnings from major AI hyperscalers during the reporting season.
“So far, Nvidia shares are only a fraction lower off the back of its results, with futures barely moving,” he said.
Gilbert agreed the market had largely priced in perfection.
“The market has grown accustomed to perfection from Nvidia, and although we got that today, much of it was already priced in,” he said.
“The AI boom still has plenty of runway, but the winners' list is going to get longer.”
China uncertainty weighs on outlook
Some analysts pointed to ongoing uncertainty around China sales as one reason investors were hoping for stronger guidance.
Earlier this year, Nvidia received conditional approval to export its H200 AI chip to China, subject to restrictions including third-party testing and limitations on military use.
However, chief financial officer Colette Kress said it remained unclear whether imports of the H200 would ultimately proceed.
Nvidia’s most advanced Blackwell and forthcoming Rubin chips are still barred from export to China following US restrictions imposed during escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the absence of confirmed China revenue likely disappointed some investors.
“The lack of any China sales in the outlook and guidance that was only modestly ahead of expectations left some investors wanting a bit more fireworks,” Sycamore said.
He added that Nvidia’s share price may also be due for consolidation after its recent rally.
“Technically, we think Nvidia completed a fifth-wave advance at last week’s US$236.54 high and it should see a pullback toward the US$200 support zone,” he said.
Analysts warn of rising expectations
Wealth Within senior analyst Filip Tortevski said Nvidia’s current trajectory resembled the late-stage momentum seen during the dot-com boom, although he stressed Nvidia’s earnings growth remained fundamentally stronger.
“NVIDIA now looks eerily similar,” Tortevski said, referring to Cisco during the dot-com era.
“The difference is the earnings are real. Revenue growth is unlike anything markets have seen before and every quarter the company keeps beating expectations that already seem impossible to beat.”
Tortevski said Nvidia shares could still rally toward US$300, but warned investors that expectations were becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy.
“At some point the company won’t just need strong earnings, it will need flawless earnings,” he said.
“History says no company can maintain that forever.”