Nvidia posts another record quarter, reveals $43 billion of holdings in startups

Nvidia has reported an impressive financial performance, achieving a record revenue of $81.6 billion for the quarter ending April 26, marking a 20% increase from the previous quarter. The company's data center revenue soared to an astonishing $75.2 billion, prompting Nvidia to announce a substantial $80 billion share repurchase program. CFO Colette Kress highlighted the widespread adoption of their Blackwell architecture, stating that it has been embraced by major hyperscalers, cloud providers, and model creators alike. Despite this success, Nvidia anticipates a slowdown in growth, forecasting $91 billion in revenue for the upcoming quarter, representing a 12% increase. Interestingly, the company's earnings were unaffected by Chinese exports. Although H200s have received US export approval, Kress noted, "we have yet to generate any revenue, and we are uncertain whether any imports will be allowed into [China]." A surprising development in Nvidia's latest report is the significant surge in their investments in privately held companies, referred to as "non-marketable equity securities." The value of these stakes nearly doubled from $22 billion at the start of the quarter to $43 billion by its conclusion, largely due to $18.5 billion in purchases made during this period. In contrast, the previous quarter had only seen $649 million in similar investments. This notable figure does not account for Nvidia's recent investments in publicly traded companies like Corning and IREN, nor does it include future commitments yet to be finalized. In February, Nvidia had committed $30 billion to OpenAI, although specific details of the investment structure remain undisclosed. During a call with investors, Jensen Huang emphasized Nvidia’s growing influence, including a significant upcoming collaboration with Anthropic, stating, "The amount of capacity we’re going to bring online for Anthropic this year and next year is going to be quite significant. Our coverage for Anthropic had been largely zero until this."