Nvidia raises guidance after beating revenue estimates in $81.6B AI-driven quarter

NVIDIA reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $81.6 billion on May 20, up 85% from a year earlier and 20% from the prior quarter, as demand for AI chips and systems from large cloud providers continued to drive growth. The company also raised its outlook, saying second-quarter revenue is expected to reach $91.0 billion. NVIDIA paired the results with an additional $80 billion share repurchase authorization and a sharp increase in its quarterly cash dividend. (investor.nvidia.com) The quarter ended April 26, 2026, and marked another step up from the company’s previous record of $68.1 billion in fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue, reported in February. Data Center revenue reached $75.2 billion in the latest quarter, up 92% from a year earlier, according to the company. ### Where did the growth come from? Data Center was the main driver. NVIDIA said Data Center revenue hit $75.2 billion in the quarter, while under its previous reporting structure Data Center compute revenue was $60.4 billion and networking revenue was $14.8 billion. (investor.nvidia.com) The company said it is shifting to a new reporting framework with two market platforms — Data Center and Edge Computing — and will break Data Center into Hyperscale and ACIE, which stands for AI Clouds, Industrial and Enterprise. Colette Kress, NVIDIA’s chief financial officer, has pointed investors to sustained spending by hyperscalers on AI infrastructure, and the company’s latest results matched that theme. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s chief executive, said in the earnings release that the “buildout of AI factories” was accelerating and that agentic AI was generating “real value” across industries. ### What did NVIDIA change for shareholders? On May 18, NVIDIA’s board approved an additional $80.0 billion for share repurchases, without expiration, the company said. (investor.nvidia.com) As of the end of the first quarter, NVIDIA had $38.5 billion remaining under its prior authorization, and it said it returned about $20.0 billion to shareholders during the quarter through repurchases and cash dividends. The dividend increase was larger in percentage terms. NVIDIA said it would raise its quarterly cash dividend to $0.25 a share from $0.01 a share, with payment due on June 26, 2026, to shareholders of record on June 4, 2026. (investor.nvidia.com) In the prior quarter, the company had said its next dividend would remain $0.01 a share, payable on April 1. ### How strong were margins and earnings? GAAP gross margin was 74.9% in the quarter and non-GAAP gross margin was 75.0%, NVIDIA said. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $2.39, while non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $1.87. (investor.nvidia.com) Those figures followed fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.76 and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.62. Gross margin in that quarter was 75.0% on a GAAP basis and 75.2% on a non-GAAP basis, according to the company’s February release. (investor.nvidia.com) ### What does the new guidance put on the table? Second-quarter revenue guidance of $91.0 billion would extend NVIDIA’s run of sequential growth if achieved. The company’s first-quarter revenue of $81.6 billion followed $68.1 billion in the prior quarter and $44.1 billion in the year-earlier first quarter, based on NVIDIA’s reported results. (investor.nvidia.com) The next formal update is likely to come with NVIDIA’s second-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings report later this summer. For now, the company has set one near-term date for investors: June 26, when the higher quarterly dividend is due to be paid to shareholders of record as of June 4. (investor.nvidia.com 1) (investor.nvidia.com 2)