Kings of the AI Gold Rush: Nvidia Revenue Soars 265% in Fourth Quarter

Nvidia reported fourth quarter results that smashed Wall Street expectations, driven by booming demand for its graphics chips to power AI systems. The company’s fourth quarter revenues grew 265 percent based on sales of its high-powered GPUs that are the most important component of many AI systems.

CNBC reports that Nvidia, the leading maker of graphics processing units (GPUs), posted blowout fourth quarter earnings, handily beating analysts’ forecasts. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $5.16, far surpassing the $4.64 expected. Revenue hit $22.1 billion, crushing the estimate of $20.62 billion.

The standout performer was Nvidia’s data center segment, which provides GPUs for AI workloads. Data center revenue skyrocketed a whopping 409 percent year-over-year to $18.4 billion, accounting for over 80 percent of total sales. Nvidia has been the primary beneficiary as major technology companies engage in an AI chip arms race, with models developed on the company’s high-performance hardware.

According to the earnings release, demand was driven by cloud service providers, enterprise software companies, and various verticals including automotive, financial services and healthcare. Nvidia said over half of its data center revenue came from large cloud customers.

CEO Jensen Huang addressed concerns that growth could slow, stating that conditions remain excellent for continued expansion into 2025 and beyond. He cited strong appetite for Nvidia’s GPUs thanks to generative AI and accelerators increasingly replacing CPUs.

While supply of the newest Hopper-architecture chips is improving, CFO Colette Kress warned that next-gen products will likely face constraints as demand still eclipses supply. She said Nvidia’s upcoming B100 chip expected to launch later this year will be in short supply.

The gaming segment, Nvidia’s former core business, grew 56 percent to $2.87 billion. Growth in China was dampened by recent U.S. export restrictions on advanced AI semiconductors. But Nvidia said it has reconfigured products to meet regulations.

For the current quarter, Nvidia guided for a stellar $24 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations of $22.17 billion. The company posted $12.29 billion in net income, up 769 percent year-over-year.