Ai demand lifts NVIDIA past Q4 estimates and pushes up Q1 outlook
NVIDIA beat expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter, driven by surging data center demand for ai, and offered first-quarter guidance that tops Wall Street forecasts.
Ai-driven Data Center growth led the quarter
NVIDIA reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $68. 1 billion for the quarter ended January 25, 2026, with Data Center revenue accounting for $62. 3 billion of that total. Compute revenue grew 58% year over year, while networking jumped 263% to $11 billion. CFO Colette Kress said hyperscalers drove much of the gain and that hyperscaler revenue was slightly over 50% of Data Center revenue, with growth also coming from the rest of the company’s Data Center customers.
Record revenue, margins and earnings
The company posted record revenue for the quarter and for fiscal 2026. Quarterly revenue of $68. 1 billion was up 20% from the prior quarter and up 73% from a year earlier; fiscal 2026 revenue was $215. 9 billion, up 65% year over year. For the quarter, GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins were 75. 0% and 75. 2%, respectively. For fiscal 2026, GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins were 71. 1% and 71. 3%, respectively. GAAP and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $1. 76 and $1. 62, respectively; for fiscal 2026, GAAP and non-GAAP EPS were $4. 90 and $4. 77.
Ai product cycle, partnerships and recent launches
Management highlighted new AI hardware and partner deals as momentum drivers. Jensen Huang said the agentic AI inflection point has arrived and named Grace Blackwell with NVLink and the Vera Rubin superchip as key technologies. The company launched Vera Rubin at CES in Las Vegas in January. NVIDIA also expanded a multiyear agreement with Meta to provide Blackwell and Rubin processors and to deploy Grace CPU servers as a standalone installation.
Guidance, dividends and shareholder returns
NVIDIA offered a first-quarter outlook between $76. 44 billion and $79. 56 billion, above Wall Street estimates of $72. 8 billion; that outlook excludes any potential revenue out of China. During fiscal 2026, NVIDIA returned $41. 1 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and cash dividends, and as of the end of the fourth quarter it had $58. 5 billion remaining under its share repurchase authorization. it will pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0. 01 per share on April 1, 2026, to shareholders of record on March 11, 2026. Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, NVIDIA will include stock-based compensation expense in its non-GAAP financial measures, noting that stock-based compensation is a foundational component of its compensation program to attract and retain world-class talent.
Market reaction, investor debate and near-term events
NVIDIA stock pared gains in premarket trading, rising 1% after an earlier 3% jump, and was up just over 5% since the start of the year as of Wednesday afternoon. By comparison, Advanced Micro Devices was down roughly 1% year to date, Broadcom off about 3%, and Intel up almost 27%. Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster wrote that the disconnect between NVIDIA’s announcements and its stock performance comes down to whether investors view the AI trade as near its end or still early. "The real debate is what growth looks like in 2027 and 2028, " he wrote, and added, "Ultimately, investors have to decide what inning of the AI buildout we are in, if it's the fifth inning, 2027 growth should look more modest, and if it is the second inning, which I believe, NVIDIA’s growth outlook over the next several years remains robust. "
What’s next: conference call and GTC
NVIDIA will conduct a conference call with analysts and investors today at 2 p. m. Pacific time (5 p. m. Eastern time); the webcast will be listen-only, will be recorded, and will be available for replay until the company’s conference call for its first quarter of fiscal 2027. The company is also scheduled to host GTC 2026 in San Jose, California, in a few weeks, where it is expected to make additional product announcements. Unclear in the provided context is the company’s detailed first-quarter outlook disclosure from its own press materials beyond the range already given.
