NVIDIA reports $47.4 billion Q2 revenue driven by sustained AI infrastructure demand.
Nvidia reported revenue of $47.4 billion for the April to June quarter, representing a 56% increase compared with the same period in 2024. The results exceeded expectations by $68 million, though the company achieved this growth without any shipments of its flagship H20 AI chip to China-based customers. The performance marked the weakest in a nine-quarter streak of above 50% year-over-year revenue growth dating back to summer 2023. Second-quarter profit surged almost 60% to $26.4 billion compared with the same period in 2024.
Despite the strong results, Nvidia reassured markets that demand for AI infrastructure would remain robust, with CFO Colette Kress stating the company expected spending on AI infrastructure of between $3 trillion and $4 trillion in the coming five years. CEO Jensen Huang highlighted that annual spending on the technology by the big four players had jumped by 100% to $600 billion, noting that "the AI race is now on" and that "over time, you would think that artificial intelligence would accelerate GDP growth. Our contribution to that is a large part of the AI infrastructure." The firm pointed to strong demand particularly from U.S. tech companies including Meta and OpenAI.
Nvidia forecast revenue for the July to September quarter at $54 billion, with a margin of error of 2% either way, though the forecast assumed zero sales of its H20 AI chip to China. The markets reacted with some disappointment, with the share price dipping more than 2% in after-hours trading. Three hours before the NASDAQ exchange opened, the stock was trading at $178, down $3.55. Eileen Burbridge of Passion Capital attributed the share price "wobble" to revenue from Nvidia's data centers arm—which accounts for almost 90% of the company's business—"not posting results as strong as it was hoping," adding that "there's clearly been so much capital that's gone in that I don't think it's unfair to say there's been maybe too much exuberance or a bit of a bubble."
Nvidia and rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices reached an "unprecedented" deal with the Trump administration to share 15% of their sales to China with the U.S. treasury in exchange for export licenses to ship their advanced H20 and MI308 semiconductors. The administration began issuing licenses to both companies days after Huang met with Trump at the White House on August 6. Analysts had predicted Nvidia would ship 1.5 million H20s worth $23 billion to China before Trump imposed his ban in June, with the chip having been developed specifically for the Chinese market following President Joe Biden's 2023 export controls on advanced AI chips.