Nvidia shares fell Thursday even though the graphics-chip maker posted a beat-and-raise quarterly report. Nvidia stock sank more than 7% on the news.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company late Wednesday said it earned an adjusted $1.32 a share on sales of $7.64 billion in the quarter ended Jan. 30. Analysts had expected Nvidia earnings of $1.23 a share on sales of $7.42 billion, according to FactSet. On a year-over-year basis, Nvidia earnings rose 69% while sales climbed 53%.
For the current quarter, Nvidia predicted sales of $8.1 billion, up 43% year over year. Analysts had been looking for sales of $7.31 billion in the fiscal first quarter.
Nvidia disappointed some investors with its guidance for an unchanged gross profit margin in the first quarter, analysts said.
"We are seeing exceptional demand for Nvidia computing platforms," Chief Executive Jensen Huang said in a news release. "Nvidia is propelling advances in AI, digital biology, climate sciences, gaming, creative design, autonomous vehicles and robotics — some of today's most impactful fields."
Nvidia Stock Slips After Report
On the stock market today, Nvidia stock slid 7.6% to close at 245.07. During the regular session Wednesday, Nvidia stock inched a fraction higher to 265.11.
Of its business segments, data center delivered the fastest growth in the fourth quarter. Nvidia's sales of processors for data centers rose 71% to $3.26 billion.
Gaming was the company's largest segment. Sales of graphics chips for gaming PCs and consoles rose 37% to $3.42 billion in the period. The remainder of Nvidia's sales came from its professional visualization and automotive and robotics segments.
Nvidia stock is tied for first place out of 30 stocks in IBD's fabless semiconductor industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. It has an IBD Composite Rating of 98 out of 99. IBD's Composite Rating is a blend of key fundamental and technical metrics to help investors gauge a stock's strengths. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
Nvidia stock is on the IBD 50 list of top-performing growth stocks. It's also on IBD's prestigious Leaderboard.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
