Nvda’s record quarter fails to soothe markets as indexes slide
nvda posted record fourth-quarter revenue and blockbuster fiscal 2026 results, but stocks sank Thursday as investors pressed for clearer growth drivers; the Nasdaq Composite led losses, down roughly 1. 8%, the S&P 500 fell over 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0. 4%, while Nvidia shares slid 5% in morning trading.
Nvda's record quarter, by the numbers
The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $68. 1 billion for the period ended January 25, 2026, up 20% from the previous quarter and up 73% from a year earlier, and fiscal 2026 revenue of $215. 9 billion, up 65% from a year ago. GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins for the quarter were 75. 0% and 75. 2%, respectively; for fiscal 2026, GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins were 71. 1% and 71. 3%.
GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $1. 76 and $1. 62, respectively, and for fiscal 2026 were $4. 90 and $4. 77. During fiscal 2026, the company returned $41. 1 billion to shareholders in share repurchases and cash dividends and had $58. 5 billion remaining under its share repurchase authorization at the end of the fourth quarter. The next quarterly cash dividend of $0. 01 per share will be paid on April 1, 2026, to shareholders of record on March 11, 2026.
it will begin including stock-based compensation expense in non-GAAP financial measures beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, and it expects GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates for full-year fiscal 2027 to be between 17. 0% and 19. 0%, excluding discrete items and material changes to its tax environment.
What executives said about AI demand
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, said: “Computing demand is growing exponentially — the agentic AI inflection point has arrived. Grace Blackwell with NVLink is the king of inference today — delivering an order-of-magnitude lower cost per token — and Vera Rubin will extend that leadership even further. ” He added that “enterprise adoption of agents is skyrocketing” and that customers are “racing to invest in AI compute. ”
CFO commentary by Colette Kress is available from the company, and the company will hold a conference call with analysts and investors today at 2 p. m. Pacific time (5 p. m. Eastern time); a live webcast will be recorded and available for replay until the company’s conference call to discuss its first quarter of fiscal 2027.
Markets and chipmakers slide despite big beats
nvda beat top-line and bottom-line estimates and guided above expectations, but investors focused on a lack of detail about future growth drivers; the guidance does not include potential revenue out of China, a point that left some on Wall Street questioning competitive threats and the staying power of AI buildout demand. The sector-wide reaction was sharp: an ETF tracking the semiconductor industry (SOXX) was down 3. 5% on the morning.
Major semiconductor names moved lower in sympathy, with Broadcom (AVGO) and Micron (MU) selling off by more than 6% and more than 5%, respectively, and Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) falling about 4%. Before nvda’s results, the sector had been up 16% year-to-date and up 40% over the past six months, and Nvidia’s results have become a key bellwether for the AI trade.
Other earnings, corporate moves and economic data shaping trading
Stellantis posted a massive $26. billion full-year loss after an EV-related charge, while Warner Bros. Discovery, Dell, and CoreWeave were among names on Thursday’s earnings docket. Salesforce turned higher after an initial post-earnings sell-off as CEO Marc Benioff sought to defuse investor worries after a revenue forecast that fell short of estimates; Guggenheim noted: “We calculate that organic, constant currency growth [for Salesforce] was about 9. 0% in FY25 and 7. 2% in FY26, while guidance implies about 6. 8% in FY27. Management recognizes this slippery slope and therefore needs to invest, which means less margin and profit, but we believe” — unclear in the provided context.
On smaller cloud names, C3. ai drew sharp criticism: “Horrible quarter. Not so great earnings call. And now a 26% staff reduction. ” The company’s stock was said to be regaining ground following an interview with new CEO Steve Ehikian, though the interviewer noted they “didn't hear a ton of positives” from Steve and that an inflection point in sales appeared “well out in the distance. ”
On the macro front, initial jobless claims ticked up marginally over the previous week while continuing claims saw a small drop, signaling a somewhat stagnated economy; investors were awaiting the January wholesale inflation reading on Friday to help evaluate the odds of an interest-rate cut.
What’s next
The next confirmed events are the company’s conference call at 5 p. m. Eastern time today and the scheduled dividend payment of $0. 01 per share on April 1, 2026, to shareholders of record on March 11, 2026; the company’s webcast will be recorded and available for replay until its conference call to discuss the first quarter of fiscal 2027.
