NVIDIA posts $81.6B revenue

Nvidia’s latest quarter showed how far the AI spending cycle has widened beyond cloud companies and model developers. The chipmaker said on May 20 that first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue reached $81.6 billion for the quarter ended April 26, up 20% from the previous quarter and 85% from a year earlier. Nvidia said data center revenue was $73.0 billion, up 14% sequentially and 73% year over year, while Chief Executive Jensen Huang said global demand for AI infrastructure remained strong. ### How big was the quarter, and where did the growth come from? Nvidia said first-quarter revenue of $81.6 billion was a record for the company and extended the run of growth it reported in February, when fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue was $68.1 billion. The company said first-quarter diluted earnings per share were $0.76 on a GAAP basis and $0.81 on a non-GAAP basis. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) The data center business remained the core of the quarter. Nvidia said data center revenue totaled $73.0 billion, compared with $62.3 billion in the prior quarter, and described demand as being driven by deployments of its Blackwell AI infrastructure. Huang said in the earnings release that “global demand for NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure is incredibly strong.” (nvidianews.nvidia.com) ### Why are people talking about countries, not just companies, as customers? Benzinga reported on May 20 that Nvidia’s next wave of AI buyers may include entire countries building what the outlet described as sovereign AI infrastructure. The report cited projects and plans tied to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France and Norway, alongside earlier spending by large U.S. technology companies. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) That framing matters because sovereign AI projects are not just chip orders. Benzinga said Saudi Arabia has partnered with Nvidia on sovereign AI factory initiatives, while the UAE has backed large-scale infrastructure projects tied to G42 and Stargate UAE. Those projects imply demand for data center sites, electric power, cooling systems and related construction, even when the immediate announcement centers on chips. (benzinga.com) ### What has Nvidia said publicly about Singapore? CNBC reported on May 20 that Singapore announced a new Nvidia research center and its first testbed to research, test and deploy physical AI with industry partners. The announcement came on the first day of Singapore’s ATxSummit, according to CNBC. (benzinga.com) Singapore’s move adds a research and deployment track to Nvidia’s expansion story in Asia. CNBC said the city-state is positioning the center and testbed around physical AI, a category that includes systems used in robotics and industrial settings rather than only large-language-model training. (cnbc.com) ### What is the Saudi piece of the story? Benzinga said Saudi Arabia has partnered with Nvidia on sovereign AI initiatives, adding to a broader push by the kingdom to become an AI hub. A separate Benzinga report from May 2025 said Nvidia announced an 18,000-chip deal with Saudi Arabia’s Humain during the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh. (cnbc.com) Those Saudi projects have also drawn financing attention. The source materials for this story cited reporting that Goldman Sachs was advising Humain on financing for data centers, though that detail was not independently confirmed here from a primary filing or company statement. Based on the verified reporting, the clearest public facts are Nvidia’s Saudi partnership activity and the broader sovereign AI build-out described by Benzinga. (benzinga.com) ### What comes next from Nvidia? Nvidia said on April 30 that it would discuss first-quarter fiscal 2027 results on a conference call on May 20 at 2 p.m. Pacific time, and the company said the replay will remain available until its next quarterly earnings call. Nvidia’s next formal milestone is its second-quarter fiscal 2027 results announcement, which will cover the period after April 26 and give investors the next update on Blackwell demand and data center growth. (benzinga.com) (nvidianews.nvidia.com)