Sales set to double for chip giant Nvidia as AI frenzy persists
23 August 2024, 14:24
Investors will be hoping for another blockbuster set of results, after the firm delivered a strong first quarter.
Technology giant Nvidia is set to reveal another surge in profits on the back of doubling revenues as it benefits from the rapid adoption of generative AI (artificial intelligence).
The chip firm, which is currently the world’s second largest listed company behind Microsoft, has seen its share price surge more than 160% since the start of the year as investors banked on continued growth for its AI and data centre businesses.
On Wednesday, Nvidia will update shareholders and analysts over its trading performance for its second quarter to the end of July.
They will be hoping for another blockbuster set of results, after the firm delivered a strong first quarter.
Revenues shot up 262% to 26 billion dollars in the quarter to April, rising beyond the industry forecasts laid out in its previous update.
Nvidia’s growth was supported by the rapid growth of its data centre business, which includes the development of its H100 graphics cards which are widely used to power generative AI apps, such as ChatGPT.
In the first quarter, data centre revenues were more than five times larger than the same period a year earlier as a result.
An analyst consensus compiled by Zacks Investment Research forecast that overall group revenues are likely to be 109% higher for the second quarter as AI-related growth continued to support the business.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Analysts are expecting this momentum to continue into next week’s results.
“The likes of Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft are all customers, each with deep pockets and a desire to build out their AI offerings with the power of Nvidia’s market-leading chips.
“That’s underpinning the market’s view that second-quarter revenue and operating profits can more than double to 28.6 billion dollars (£21.8 billion) and 18.7 billion dollars (£14.3 billion) respectively.”
The analyst said he believes these projections look “achievable”, with investors therefore likely to have a particularly keen eye on its outlook for the rest of the year.
Analysts at AJ Bell said Nvidia has “demolished consensus estimates and raised guidance for each of the past five quarters”, and agreed that investors will be looking for a steer on what the remainder of the year will look like.
They added that investors could be looking out for an update on reported delays in the launch of new AI chips, using its Blackwell architecture, with production due to be ramped up in the second half of this year.
