Demand for artificial intelligence computer chips drove Nvidia income up 769 percent to nearly $12.3 billion for Q4, year-over-year, and 286 percent — to just over $29.7 billion — for the full-year fiscal 2024 frame that ended January 28. Revenue was $22.1 billion (+265 percent) and $60.9 billion (+126 percent) for the respective periods. Data center sales hit record highs of $18.4 billion for the quarter, up 409 percent from the previous year, $47.5 billion for the fiscal year, an increase of 217 percent. Gaming revenue was flat for Q4, at $2.9 billion, and up 115 percent for the year.

“Accelerated computing and generative AI have hit the tipping point,” Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in the earnings release, adding that “demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations.”

The performance is part of a record 18-month run that is pushing the company toward a valuation of $2 trillion (a rarified stratosphere three companies currently hover above: Microsoft, Apple and Saudi Aramco). Based on the earnings results, which exceeded analyst expectations, The New York Times places Nvidia’s market cap at $1.7 trillion.

Of the gaming chips on which the company was founded three decades ago, although that division now represents only a fraction of data center earnings, Huang noted “Nvidia RTX, introduced less than six years ago, is now a massive PC platform for generative AI, enjoyed by 100 million gamers and creators,” citing for the year ahead “major new product cycles with exceptional innovations.”

Huang teased that more will be heard about that at GTC 2024, the company’s GPU Technology Conference, March 17-21, at the San Jose Convention Center in California.

“Nvidia’s results act as a bellwether for the strength of the AI boom, as big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple place large bets on the technology and need Nvidia’s hardware to drive them,” WSJ writes, quoting Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives saying the company’s strong earnings indicate “the AI revolution is just starting and not peaked.”

“Nvidia’s results act as a bellwether for the strength of the AI boom, as big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple place large bets on the technology and need Nvidia’s hardware to drive them,” The Wall Street Journal writes, quoting Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives saying the company’s strong earnings indicate “the AI revolution is just starting and not peaked.”

While that is likely true and Nvidia is forecasting strong results for the current quarter, the company is also looking ahead at diversification into custom HPC chips as it faces more competition in the AI chipmaking market.

Related:
Nvidia Declares AI a ‘Whole New Industry’ – and Investors Agree, The Wall Street Journal, 2/22/24