Financial markets were waiting for Nvidia's results, and now they are here: revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026 reached $68.1 billion, while analysts had expected approximately $66 billion. Nvidia is simply accustomed to delivering surprises, and it has done so once again.
Record Figures Once Again
Revenue jumped 73% year over year. That sounds incredible in itself, but it is even more surprising when we realize that we are talking about a company with a market capitalization of over a trillion dollars. Growth like this is simply unheard of among giants of this size.
The biggest driver of the overall result? Data centers. Revenue from this segment rose 75% to $62.3 billion and accounts for more than 91% of the company's total revenue. One word is behind it all: AI. Demand for computing power to train and run large language models is simply not declining—quite the opposite. Non-GAAP operating profit jumped 81% to $46.1 billion. Free cash flow for the quarter reached $34.9 billion. Nvidia is sitting on more than $62 billion in cash while also returning more than $4 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends.
The record figures were driven primarily by the new generation of Blackwell GPU platforms. These chips are fueling demand from the world's largest technology companies. OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Google, and even the British government are all competing to secure more capacity. Nvidia cannot keep up with deliveries. Non-GAAP gross margin reached 75.2%, up 1.7 percentage points year over year. Blackwell is manufactured more efficiently and has a better cost structure than the previous generation. The more chips Nvidia sells, the more profit it makes.
Outlook for the Next Quarter
Nvidia estimates revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 at $78 billion. Analysts had expected roughly $69 billion. In other words, the company beat estimates not only with its results but also with its future outlook.
Year over year, this would represent growth of approximately 77%. A company that grew 73% last year is accelerating this year. How is that even possible? The answer is simple: demand for AI infrastructure has not slowed. Large technology companies are investing hundreds of billions in data centers, and Nvidia is their main supplier.
China Is Holding Back Even Better Results
Despite all the excellent figures, one shadow hangs over Nvidia. China. The company is effectively unable to sell its best chips there due to U.S. export restrictions. Even approval to sell the more limited H200 model has generated no revenue because shipments are still awaiting the necessary permits.
China used to be one of Nvidia's largest markets. Now it is virtually closed. CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged that the situation is uncertain and that he does not expect a quick resolution. Analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown are less optimistic than before about an early resolution. Nevertheless, Nvidia is growing as if China did not exist. That alone says a great deal about the strength of demand from the rest of the world.
Stock Performance
Nvidia shares reacted relatively calmly after the results were released, trading more or less unchanged in after-hours trading. The market apparently expected good results, and good results are what it got. But even an exceptional quarter is not enough to make the stock explode when expectations are so high.
The forward P/E ratio is around 24.5, which is a surprisingly modest figure for a company growing at such a pace. Analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown therefore expect a wave of upward estimate revisions from analysts in the coming weeks. Nvidia generated more than $96 billion in free cash flow during the entire 2026 fiscal year.
Sources: wsj and hl.co.uk
