Nvidia Tops Q4 Estimates and Raises Q1 Outlook as Ai Demand Fuels Data Center Surge
Nvidia reported record fourth-quarter revenue of $68. 1 billion and non‑GAAP earnings per share of $1. 62, beating analyst forecasts, and gave first‑quarter guidance of $76. 44 billion to $79. 56 billion. The numbers matter now because ai-related demand from hyperscalers and product rollouts has translated into outsized data center revenue that propelled both the beat and the bullish near‑term outlook.
Data Center revenue hits $62. 3 billion
Nvidia said Data Center revenue reached $62. 3 billion for the quarter, larger than analyst projections of $60. 2 billion and the primary engine of the company’s quarterly growth. Within the Data Center business, compute revenue rose 58% year over year, while networking jumped 263% to $11 billion. CFO Colette Kress noted hyperscaler revenue increased and remained the largest customer category, composing slightly over 50% of Data Center revenue, even as growth broadened across other Data Center customers.
Financial results for the quarter and fiscal 2026
For the quarter ended January 25, 2026, Nvidia reported revenue of $68. 1 billion, up 20% from the prior quarter and up 73% from a year earlier. GAAP and non‑GAAP gross margins for the quarter were 75. 0% and 75. 2%, respectively. On an earnings basis, GAAP diluted EPS was $1. 76 and non‑GAAP diluted EPS was $1. 62 for the period. For fiscal 2026 overall, revenue was $215. 9 billion, up 65% year over year, and GAAP and non‑GAAP gross margins for the year were 71. 1% and 71. 3%. Fiscal 2026 GAAP and non‑GAAP earnings per diluted share were $4. 90 and $4. 77.
Jensen Huang: Ai agents and product leadership
Chief executive Jensen Huang framed the results as evidence that an agentic ai inflection point has arrived, endorsing the company’s product momentum. He characterized Grace Blackwell with NVLink as leading inference today and said the Vera Rubin superchip will extend that lead. The company highlighted Vera Rubin’s public debut at the CES technology conference in Las Vegas in January and signaled that such product introductions are central to customer adoption.
Outlook, shareholder returns and corporate actions
Nvidia set first‑quarter fiscal 2027 revenue guidance between $76. 44 billion and $79. 56 billion, above Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $72. 8 billion. The company returned $41. 1 billion to shareholders during fiscal 2026 through share repurchases and cash dividends and reported $58. 5 billion remaining under its repurchase authorization at quarter end. Nvidia 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.
Market reaction, investor debate and broader demand
Despite the beat and the optimistic guidance, Nvidia stock fell more than 4% on Thursday as investors weighed the results against broader anxiety about the ai trade. The shares were nevertheless up just over 5% since the start of the year as of Wednesday afternoon; by comparison, Advanced Micro Devices was down roughly 1%, Broadcom off about 3%, and Intel up almost 27% year to date. Analyst and investor commentary has focused on how growth will look in 2027 and 2028, with some arguing the key question is which stage of ai infrastructure build‑out the market is in.
GTC 2026, Meta deal and product roadmap
Nvidia is due to host its GTC 2026 event in San Jose, California, in a matter of weeks and has already expanded a multiyear agreement with Meta to supply both Blackwell and Rubin processors as well as the first major standalone deployment of its Grace CPU servers. The company’s recent product cadence also includes the launch of the Vera Rubin superchip at CES in January. Outside of Data Center, Nvidia reported gaming revenue of $3. 7 billion versus analyst expectations of $4 billion, and a technology outlet noted Nvidia could launch its own laptop CPU in the coming months that would compete with Intel, AMD and Qualcomm.
Because hyperscalers remain the largest single customer category and are accelerating investments, Nvidia’s management highlighted collective spending plans by major cloud customers as a tailwind: Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft are expected to spend a combined $650 billion on AI capital expenditures in 2026, supporting sustained demand for the company’s compute and networking products.
Events and investor access
Nvidia will hold a conference call with analysts and investors today at 2 p. m. Pacific time (5 p. m. Eastern time); the call will be webcast in listen‑only mode and the recording will be available for replay until the next quarterly results discussion. The company also made CFO commentary available for investors to review. Nvidia uses non‑GAAP measures to supplement GAAP results, and the firm provides reconciliations to help compare current results with prior periods.
What makes this notable is the scale and concentration of the Data Center gains—compute and networking growth combined with hyperscaler commitment has produced both a record quarter and an elevated near‑term revenue guide, even as the stock reacted to questions about the longer‑term pace of growth.
