Nvidia Earnings Show Sales Jump Amid Strong Demand for A.I. Chips

Nvidia, the artificial intelligence chipmaker, was crowned the world’s first $4 trillion public company last month and has become perhaps the most important factor determining the direction of the stock market.

On Wednesday, the Silicon Valley company reported results that showed that spending on A.I. infrastructure remains robust, easing the anxieties of Wall Street and investors around the world.

Concerns over whether tech companies would continue shelling out billions to build A.I. data centers — spending that has helped prop up the economy — had mounted in recent months. But Nvidia’s sales rose 56 percent to $46.74 billion in the three months that ended in July, just topping Wall Street’s expectations. Profit increased more than 59 percent to $26.42 billion.

Revenue in the current quarter is projected to rise 54 percent from a year ago to $54 billion, as tech companies pour money into data centers. The forecast was in line with Wall Street’s prediction for $53.9 billion, but the company said that its estimates didn’t include any sales for China, which would lift its revenue higher.

“The A.I. race is on,” said Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, in a statement. He said the company’s chips were “at its center.”

Shares of Nvidia fell more than 3 percent in after-hours trading.

Nvidia’s results have been closely watched since OpenAI released its ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022, igniting an A.I. boom. The company’s fortunes have soared as tech companies have flocked to buy its chips, which are ideal for powering the development of A.I. Nvidia has grown into the market’s most significant stock, accounting for 7.5 percent of every dollar in the S&P 500, up from 3 percent in December. Its results also influence the values of tech and energy companies with A.I. businesses.