NVIDIA posts record profit, $80bn buyback

Nvidia reported record quarterly revenue and profit on May 20, pairing another surge in data-center sales with an $80 billion share repurchase authorization and a higher dividend. The results extended the company’s run as the biggest listed beneficiary of the AI buildout, with first-quarter revenue rising 85% from a year earlier to $81.6 billion, according to Nvidia’s earnings release. Chief executive Jensen Huang used the earnings call and later television interviews to argue that AI infrastructure spending is still in an early phase, even as he acknowledged the company has “largely conceded” China’s advanced AI-chip market to Huawei. Nvidia shares nevertheless fell after the report, with CNBC and the BBC reporting a muted investor reaction despite the beat on revenue and earnings. ### How big was the quarter? Nvidia said first-quarter net income reached $58.3 billion for the period ended April 26, 2026, while data-center revenue climbed 92% from a year earlier to a record $75.2 billion. The company said total revenue rose 20% from the previous quarter, underscoring how much of its business is now tied to AI server demand from cloud groups and other large customers. CNBC reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.87, above analyst estimates of $1.76, while revenue also topped Wall Street forecasts. (investor.nvidia.com) Huang told analysts that “demand has gone parabolic” and said the “AI factory buildout is accelerating at extraordinary speed,” according to CNBC’s live coverage of the call. ### Why did Nvidia announce such a large buyback? Nvidia said it authorized an additional $80 billion in share repurchases and raised its quarterly cash dividend from $0.01 per share to $0.25 per share. (investor.nvidia.com) The move came after the company had already returned $41.1 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2026, according to its prior fourth-quarter release, and it added to the cash-return message in a quarter defined by record sales. (cnbc.com) The earnings release did not frame the buyback as a response to the stock’s immediate post-results decline. It presented the authorization alongside the quarter’s revenue and profit records, and CNBC highlighted the move as one of the main takeaways from the report. ### What did Jensen Huang say about China and Huawei? Huang told CNBC that Nvidia has “largely conceded” China’s advanced AI-chip market to Huawei after U.S. export restrictions cut off the company from selling some products there. (investor.nvidia.com) He said Chinese demand remains large and described Huawei as “very, very strong,” adding that local chip companies were doing well “because we’ve evacuated that market.” CNBC reported that China had once accounted for at least one-fifth of Nvidia’s data-center revenue, but that the company was effectively shut out after the Trump administration told Nvidia in April it would need a license to export chips to China and several other countries. (investor.nvidia.com) Huang said Nvidia had told investors to “expect nothing” on approvals for renewed advanced-chip sales into China, while adding that the company would be “more than delighted” to serve the market if conditions changed. (cnbc.com) ### Why did investors still seem underwhelmed? CNBC reported that Nvidia’s stock slid after the analyst call even though the company beat estimates and issued guidance above expectations. The BBC similarly said investors were questioning whether the current pace of AI spending can be sustained, despite the company’s forecast that annual AI infrastructure spending could reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion by the end of the decade. That reaction left a split between Nvidia’s operating results and the market’s response. (cnbc.com) The company’s own guidance called for second-quarter revenue of about $91 billion, a figure Al Jazeera said was above most analyst estimates. ### What comes next after this report? Nvidia said it expects second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of about $91 billion. Investors will next track whether that forecast is met, whether U.S. export-license policy toward China changes, and whether large customers keep spending at the pace Huang described on the May 20 earnings call. (cnbc.com) (investor.nvidia.com) (aljazeera.com)