Nvidia posts record $18B third quarter revenue, cites generative AI as primary driver

The company posted its record quarter just days after Nvidia stock achieved an all-time high.

Nvidia announced third-quarter revenue for 2023 of $18.12 billion, a company record, as the firm’s market cap now reaches $1.22 trillion.

The better-than-expected earnings follow a 12-month growth trend, during which the company saw earnings increase by 34% over the last quarter and 206% over Q3 2022.

While the company beat estimates, the strong quarter likely didn’t surprise investors or shareholders as the company’s stock recently spiked to an all-time high of $499.60 per share.

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang credited the growth to AI hardware sales:

“Our strong growth reflects the broad industry platform transition from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI of NVIDIA.”

He continued, mentioning that AI startups, consumer internet companies, and cloud service providers were the “first movers,” adding that “the next waves are starting to build.”

The record quarter comes at a transitional time for both the company, which is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and the global chip market.

Related: How an ‘internet of AIs’ will take artificial intelligence to the next level

The U.S. recently issued a partial ban on chip exports to several countries, including China. Over the past several quarters, approximately 20-25 percent of the company’s data center revenue has come from the Chinese market.

Nvidia’s most recently disclosed data center revenue of $14.51 billion indicates that as much as $3.6 billion in Q3 earnings may be attributable to sales in China.

The company’s chief financial officer, Colette Kress, told shareholders during a call to discuss the Q3 earnings that the export ban would cause its business in China to “decline significantly” in the fourth quarter. However, Kress added that the company believes those losses will be “more than offset by strong growth in other regions.”