Nvidia Tops $1,000. Here's Why the AI Stock Was Soaring Today.
Shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) were soaring again after the GPU superstar posted better-than-expected results in its first-quarter earnings report and offered strong guidance for the second quarter.
The company also surprised investors with a 10-for-1 stock split.
As a result, the stock was up 10.8% on the news as of 12:49 p.m. ET.
Image source: Getty Images.
Nvidia wows Wall Street again
Nvidia has been the biggest winner on the stock market in the artificial intelligence (AI) boom that started with the launch of ChatGPT, and the company has showed no signs of slowing down its latest report. The strong results come as some investors expect the data center GPU market to normalize as competition from AMD and Intel enters the fray, but the results indicate no impact from new competition.
Nvidia reported revenue of $26 billion, up 262% from the quarter a year ago and 18% sequentially. That figure topped the analyst consensus at $24.7 billion.
Margins at the AI chip titan continued to expand. On a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, its gross margin jumped from 64.6% to 78.4%, and adjusted earnings per share surged from $1.09 to $6.12, beating expectations at $5.59.
Nvidia also announced a 10-for-1 stock split, which will go into effect on June 10, a sign of how far the stock has come in the last year and a half. The company also said it would raise its paltry dividend by 150% to $0.10 a share, a move that seemed designed to accommodate the split, as the dividend will be $0.01, yielding approximately 0.1%.
Can Nvidia keep climbing?
On the earnings call, CEO Jensen Huang said that demand for its products continues to outstrip supply, and said the company was focused on building "AI factories." Its guidance also calls for its business to continue its strong growth.
The company forecast revenue of around $28 billion, ahead of the consensus at $26.4 billion and equal to 107% year-over-year growth, or 7.5% growth sequentially.
Nvidia did everything the market asked for and more in the first quarter. It's not surprising the stock is up today. The update shows that there is plenty of runway for the company.
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Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $45 calls on Intel and short May 2024 $47 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
