Nvidia posts record $216 billion annual revenue as AI chip demand surges

Nvidia has announced impressive fourth-quarter earnings, surpassing Wall Street predictions, thanks to a significant rise in demand for its artificial intelligence chips. This surge underscores the company’s ongoing leadership in the global AI computing hardware market. The chipmaker reported a remarkable 73% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year, reaching $68.1 billion. For the entire fiscal year, revenue soared by 65%, totaling an unprecedented $215.9 billion. Notably, data center sales, which are pivotal to Nvidia's operations, skyrocketed by 75% year-over-year, contributing a record $62.3 billion to the company’s revenue. Chief Executive Jensen Huang emphasized the exponential growth in computing demand, stating, "The agentic AI inflection point has arrived. Enterprise adoption of agents is skyrocketing. Our customers are racing to invest in AI compute, the factories powering the AI industrial revolution and their future growth." In addition to these financial achievements, Nvidia returned $41.1 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2026 through buybacks and dividends, with $58.5 billion still available under its buyback authorization at the close of the quarter. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share, set to be paid on April 1 to shareholders recorded as of March 11. Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Nvidia forecasts revenue of approximately $78 billion, which exceeds analysts' expectations. However, the company clarified that it is not factoring in any data center compute revenue from China in its projections. Nvidia's gaming revenue climbed by 47% year-on-year, reaching $3.7 billion, although it experienced a sequential decline of 13% following a strong holiday season. Additionally, professional visualization revenue surged by 159% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, and automotive revenue saw a 6% increase to $604 million. During the earnings call, Huang reassured investors about the enduring growth of artificial intelligence spending, stating, "AI is here, AI is not going to go back. AI is only going to get better from here." He noted that interest in AI agents, including innovative tools like OpenClaw, is stimulating a new wave of demand. Huang also mentioned that the next evolution will focus on "physical AI," as sophisticated models become integrated into robots and industrial machinery.