NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) revealed its robust financial performance and optimistic outlook, driven by an unprecedented wave of artificial intelligence infrastructure demand centered around its groundbreaking Blackwell systems.
What Happened: Nvidia reported a staggering $35.1 billion in revenue for the third quarter, representing a remarkable 94% year-over-year increase. Data Center revenue alone reached $30.8 billion, up an astounding 112% from the previous year.
CEO Jensen Huang described the current moment as "the beginnings of two fundamental shifts in computing," highlighting the transition from traditional coding to machine learning and the emergence of AI as a new industrial capability.
The company's new Blackwell systems are at the center of this transformation. Huang noted that while they shipped zero Blackwell systems last quarter, they are now shipping billions of dollars worth, with demand "staggering" and supply racing to keep up. Oracle Corp has already announced plans for AI computing clusters that can scale to over 131,000 Blackwell GPUs.
One of the most closely watched aspects of the earnings call was Nvidia's gross margin projection. CFO Colette Kress provided clarity, stating that as Blackwell ramps up, gross margins will temporarily dip to the low 70% range-potentially around 71-72.5%-before quickly recovering to the mid-70s.
"We will start growing into our gross margins," Kress explained, "and we hope to get to the mid-70s quite quickly as part of that ramp."
Why It Matters: Nvidia's fourth-quarter revenue is projected at $37.5 billion, with continued strong demand for both Hopper and Blackwell systems. The company expects to ship more Blackwell systems in each subsequent quarter, indicating a robust and accelerating adoption curve.
The company sees massive potential in modernizing global computing infrastructure for AI. Huang suggested that by 2030, computing data centers could be worth a couple of trillion dollars, with a multi-year transformation ahead.
"We're going to continue to build out to modernize IT," Huang stated, "and then create these AI factories that are going to be for a new industry for the production of artificial intelligence."
Price Action: Nvidia's stock closed at $145.89 on Wednesday, down 0.76% for the day. In after-hours trading, the stock dipped further by 2.53%. Year to date, Nvidia's stock has surged 202.86%, according to data from Benzinga Pro.