Nvidia stock surged in early U.S. trading on Thursday after the chipmaker delivered another round of blockbuster results and an upbeat outlook, easing fears that the AI boom is overheating.
Shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) were up 4.9% by 05:42 ET (10:42 GMT), supported by strong fiscal third-quarter numbers and confident commentary from CEO Jensen Huang and CFO Colette Kress.
Q3 results comfortably beat expectations
For the quarter ending Oct. 26, Nvidia reported adjusted earnings of $1.30 per share, up from $0.78 a year earlier. Revenue soared 62% to $57.01 billion, surpassing analyst expectations for $1.25 EPS and $54.8 billion in sales.
The company’s dominant data-center division — which includes its high-demand Blackwell and Hopper AI chips — grew 66% to $51.22 billion, well ahead of the $49.09 billion consensus.
CFO Colette Kress said momentum behind the Blackwell platform continues to build, reiterating that Nvidia currently has “visibility on $500 billion in revenue from the beginning of the year to the end of 2026,” adding that hyperscalers moving to accelerated computing and generative AI represent roughly half of the company’s long-term opportunity.
Hyperscale customers Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet helped drive demand, with CEO Jensen Huang describing interest as “off the charts.” Kress noted that the GB300 chip represented around two-thirds of Blackwell revenue in the quarter.
Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis said “Amidst a wide range of growing AI concerns, NVDA answered the bell with GB300 shipments driving healthy upside to estimates… These results and commentary should help steady the ship for the AI trade into the end of the year.”
Jefferies raised its price target to $250 from $240.
Melius Research also lifted its forecast, with analyst Ben Reitzes increasing his target to $320 from $300 and noting Nvidia’s “revenue acceleration to 65%+ with this kind of margin at scale, benefiting from the greatest paradigm shift of my lifetime is worth more than ~25x next year’s EPS.”
Networking revenues — another growth pillar within the data center segment — surged 162% year over year, while gaming revenue rose 30% to $4.27B. Gross margin slipped slightly to 73.6% but still topped expectations.
China impact, export controls, and chip mix
Kress said Nvidia generated roughly $50 million from its China-oriented H20 chip during Q3, but tougher U.S. export restrictions meant “sizable purchase orders” for Hopper products did not materialize.
She noted the company was “disappointed” by the new rules but continues to engage with regulators.
Huang pushes back hard on AI bubble claims
Addressing ongoing debate around whether the AI boom is becoming unsustainable, Huang said Nvidia is witnessing “something different,” citing three simultaneous technology shifts:
- Moving from CPU-based systems to GPU-accelerated computing
- Generative AI overtaking classical machine learning
- The emergence of agentic AI, which he said most industries have not yet adopted
“Don’t just look at hyperscalers… Look at the world. Look at different industries,” Huang said, emphasizing that the company is seeing a rising number of customers switching to Nvidia after testing other platforms.
He also stressed Nvidia’s central role in the AI ecosystem, saying its platform supports “every major AI model,” from OpenAI and Anthropic to xAI and Gemini. Pushing back on criticism of “circular investment,” Huang said the company’s investment in OpenAI was meant “to expand our ecosystem and support their growth.”
Guidance well above expectations
Looking ahead, Nvidia guided for around $65 billion in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, plus or minus 2% — far above the roughly $61.84 billion Street estimate.
Kress reaffirmed that Nvidia’s revenue visibility through 2026 exceeds $500 billion, with additional upside likely as more industries adopt agentic AI.