Nvidia reports $81.6 billion quarter, led by data-center AI demand

Nvidia reported record fiscal first-quarter revenue of $81.6 billion on May 20, 2026, extending the run of results that has made the chipmaker the clearest public gauge of spending on AI infrastructure. The company said revenue for the quarter ended April 26 rose 85% from a year earlier and 20% from the prior quarter, with data-center sales supplying most of the growth. Nvidia also said it authorized an additional $80 billion in share repurchases and raised its quarterly cash dividend to $0.25 a share from $0.01. Net income reached $58.3 billion in the quarter, according to Nvidia’s earnings release, underscoring how much of the current AI buildout is still flowing to the company’s top and bottom lines. Chief Executive Jensen Huang said in the release that “global demand for NVIDIA AI infrastructure is incredibly strong,” tying the quarter to continued spending by cloud providers and other customers building AI systems. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) ### How much of this quarter came from the data-center business? Nvidia said data-center revenue was $75.2 billion in the quarter, up 92% from a year earlier. That means the segment accounted for the overwhelming majority of the company’s $81.6 billion in total revenue, leaving gaming, professional visualization, automotive and other businesses as much smaller contributors in the period. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) The company’s investor materials described the quarter as another record for data center, continuing the pattern seen in the prior quarter, when Nvidia had reported $62.3 billion in data-center revenue on $68.1 billion of total quarterly revenue. The sequential increase from that base shows how much additional spending still reached Nvidia between late January and late April. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) ### Why did Nvidia pair the earnings report with an $80 billion buyback? Nvidia said the board approved an additional $80 billion share-repurchase authorization alongside the earnings release. The company also raised its quarterly cash dividend by 25-fold, to $0.25 per share from $0.01, a move that signaled how much cash it is generating even as it continues to spend on supply, product development and expansion. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) The authorization was additive, not a replacement. MarketWatch reported that Nvidia still had $38.5 billion remaining under its earlier program, meaning the new approval substantially expanded the amount available for future repurchases. ### What did Jensen Huang say about China and Huawei? Jensen Huang said on May 21 that Nvidia had “largely conceded” China’s advanced AI chip market to Huawei, according to CNBC. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) Huang’s remarks put a geopolitical limit next to an otherwise dominant quarter, showing that U.S. export controls remain a constraint on Nvidia’s ability to serve one of the world’s largest technology markets. (marketwatch.com) CNBC reported that Huang said Nvidia’s market share in China had fallen to zero in advanced AI chips. His comments came a day after the earnings release and added a second storyline to the quarter: record global demand outside China, and a market in China that Nvidia says it can no longer meaningfully contest at the high end. ### What do the quarter’s dates and labels actually mean? (cnbc.com) The quarter covered the period ended April 26, 2026, and Nvidia labels it the first quarter of fiscal 2027. The company published the results on May 20, 2026, through its newsroom and investor relations site, where it also posted the webcast and supporting materials for analysts and investors. (cnbc.com) Nvidia’s investor calendar lists the first-quarter fiscal 2027 event on May 20, 2026, and the company’s financial reports page is where its next quarterly filing and earnings materials will appear. (investor.nvidia.com) (nvidianews.nvidia.com)