Nvidia Earnings: Record Q4 Revenue $68.1B as Data Center Sales Jump 75% to $62.3B
NVIDIA’s latest numbers show the company posted record revenue in the fourth quarter, underscoring why nvidia earnings remain a focal point for markets tracking the AI-driven data center boom. The set of results released on Wednesday includes a steep rise in data center sales and a multibillion-dollar return of cash to shareholders, factors that shaped trading and investor reaction.
Nvidia Earnings: Quarterly revenue, margins and per-share results
The quarter ended January 25, 2026, produced $68. 1 billion in revenue, an increase of 20% from the prior quarter and 73% from the year-ago period. On a fiscal-year basis, NVIDIA recorded $215. 9 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026, up 65% from the prior year. GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins for the quarter were 75. 0% and 75. 2%, respectively; for the full fiscal year they were 71. 1% and 71. 3%.
GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $1. 76, while non-GAAP EPS was $1. 62; for fiscal 2026, GAAP and non-GAAP EPS were $4. 90 and $4. 77, respectively. The company’s quarterly non-GAAP EPS of $1. 62 beat analysts’ estimates of $1. 53 per share, and the quarter’s top-line came in above consensus forecasts of roughly $66. 2 billion.
Data center revenue and fiscal profit
NVIDIA’s data center business drove much of the growth: that vertical grew 75% year over year to $62. 3 billion in the quarter. The company also posted an unusually large total profit for the fiscal year, described in the results at $120 billion. Executives framed the surge as the result of accelerating enterprise demand for AI compute, with CEO Jensen Huang saying customers are racing to invest in the underlying infrastructure that powers modern AI workloads.
Shareholder returns and dividend action
During fiscal 2026 NVIDIA returned $41. 1 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and cash dividends. As of the end of the fourth quarter the company had $58. 5 billion remaining under its share repurchase authorization. The board set the next quarterly cash dividend at $0. 01 per share, to be paid on April 1, 2026, to shareholders of record on March 11, 2026.
Conference call, reporting changes and tax outlook
NVIDIA scheduled a conference call to discuss the fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results at 2 p. m. Pacific time (5 p. m. Eastern time) on the day of the release; the event will be webcast in listen-only mode and the recording will remain available until the next quarterly conference call. Colette Kress, executive vice president and chief financial officer, provided commentary alongside the results.
Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, the company will include stock-based compensation expense within its non-GAAP financial measures. For full-year fiscal 2027 NVIDIA expects GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates to fall between 17. 0% and 19. 0%, excluding discrete items and material changes to the company’s tax environment.
To supplement GAAP results, NVIDIA publishes a range of non-GAAP measures—including non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP other income (expense), net, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share and free cash flow. The reconciliations for fiscal years 2025 and 2026 adjust GAAP measures to exclude stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related and other costs, other gains/losses; the remainder of that reconciliation is unclear in the provided context.
OpenAI deal, market reaction and leadership comments
Investors scrutinized NVIDIA’s financial ties to AI firms even as the earnings beat soothed some market concerns. Shares initially rose by about 3% in after-hours trading following the release, then trimmed gains to under 1% as the day progressed. Market commentary has focused on the circular nature of some multibillion-dollar arrangements—where the company invests in AI firms that in turn purchase NVIDIA chips.
A proposed $100 billion investment into OpenAI fell through earlier this month; instead NVIDIA will invest $30 billion as the ChatGPT creator pursues an initial public offering later this year at an estimated valuation of roughly $730 billion. Jensen Huang said on the earnings call that the company continues to work with OpenAI toward a partnership agreement and believes they are close. Huang has also pushed back on concerns about AI displacing workers, stressing in recent public remarks that AI should be framed as a job creator and that "compute equals revenues. "
What makes this notable is the combination of outsized revenue growth—both the $68. 1 billion quarter and the $215. 9 billion fiscal year—and the concentration of that growth in a single business line, the $62. 3 billion data center segment, which helps explain why nvidia earnings are so closely watched by investors and policymakers. A final detail noted in market coverage is that a piece of speculative research caused a market downturn in recent days; the account of that event is incomplete and unclear in the provided context.
