Nvidia reports $81.62 billion Q1 revenue

Nvidia reported another outsized quarter on May 20, but the numbers also showed how tightly the company’s growth remains tied to the AI buildout now driving the semiconductor industry. The chipmaker said first-quarter revenue reached $81.62 billion for the period ended April 26, up 85% from a year earlier, while second-quarter sales are expected to come in at $91 billion, plus or minus 2%. The company also authorized an additional $80 billion in share repurchases and raised its quarterly cash dividend. Nvidia shares still closed down almost 2% in U.S. trading on May 21, according to Reuters. ### Why did the quarter stand out even by Nvidia’s recent standards? Nvidia said first-quarter revenue rose 20% from the prior quarter and 85% from a year earlier, extending the run of growth that has made the company the central supplier to the AI infrastructure boom. The company’s official earnings release described the result as record revenue. (investor.nvidia.com) MarketBeat data, citing consensus estimates, showed Nvidia’s $81.62 billion in revenue topped analyst expectations of $78.42 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.87, above the $1.76 consensus estimate in the same data. ### Where is the money coming from inside the business? Nvidia said data center revenue reached a record $75.2 billion in the quarter, up 92% from a year earlier. (investor.nvidia.com) That means the data center segment accounted for the overwhelming majority of total sales in the period. The Verge, summarizing Nvidia’s release, said the company attributed that performance to continued demand for chips used in AI data centers. (marketbeat.com) Reuters reported Chief Executive Jensen Huang told investors that enterprise AI demand remained very strong, while other coverage of the call cited Huang as saying demand had gone “parabolic.” (investor.nvidia.com) ### What did Nvidia say about the next quarter? Nvidia forecast second-quarter revenue of $91 billion, plus or minus 2%, in its May 20 release. That outlook was above Wall Street expectations cited in the briefing materials and signaled that the company expects demand to remain elevated into the current quarter. The same release said Nvidia’s board approved an additional $80 billion for share repurchases without expiration. (theverge.com) Nvidia also said it would increase its quarterly cash dividend from $0.01 per share to $0.25 per share. ### If the quarter was that strong, why did the stock fall? Reuters reported Nvidia shares closed down almost 2% on May 21 despite the beat-and-raise quarter. (investor.nvidia.com) CNBC also reported that the stock slipped after the results even as the company posted a strong report. The filings themselves did not give a reason for the share move. Market reaction after Nvidia earnings has often turned on investor expectations for how much upside was already priced into the stock, but that is an inference from trading behavior rather than an explanation the company gave. (fintel.io) ### What concrete milestones come next? (cnbc.com) Nvidia’s May 20 filing said the new dividend of $0.25 per share will be paid on June 26, 2026, to shareholders of record on June 4, 2026. The company’s first-quarter 10-Q and 8-K were both filed on May 20, giving investors the formal disclosures behind the earnings release and capital return plans. (investor.nvidia.com) (marketbeat.com)