Nvidia Corporation — Financial Results
Revenue More Than Doubled in Two Years, Driven Entirely by AI Infrastructure
| Metric | FY2026 | FY2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $215.9B | $130.5B | +65% |
| Compute & Networking Revenue | $193.5B | $116.2B | +67% |
| Data Center Networking Revenue | (within above) | — | +142% |
NVIDIA's revenue grew 65% in fiscal year 2026, with virtually all of the growth coming from its Compute & Networking segment — the division that sells AI chips and the infrastructure connecting them. The networking piece alone grew 142%, driven by NVLink, the high-speed connection fabric linking chips together inside large AI data centers. Gaming and other segments grew meaningfully too (Gaming +41%, Professional Visualization +70%), but they are dwarfed by the data center business.
Gross Margin Slipped as NVIDIA Transitions to More Complex Products
| Metric | FY2026 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 71.1% | 75.0% |
| Inventory Provisions (net impact) | -2.6% on margin | -2.3% on margin |
Gross margin (the percentage of revenue left after the cost of making the product) fell from 75% to 71.1%. The primary reasons were the shift from simpler Hopper-based systems to full-scale Blackwell data center builds — which are more complex and initially more costly to produce — and a $4.5 billion write-down on its H20 chip (explained below). A 71% gross margin is still exceptionally high for a hardware company, but the direction is worth watching.
A $4.5 Billion Hit from U.S. Export Rules on China Chip Sales
The U.S. government told NVIDIA it needed a license to sell its H20 chip (a China-market version of its AI processor) to Chinese customers. By the time limited licenses were granted, demand had evaporated, leaving NVIDIA holding inventory and supplier commitments it could no longer use — resulting in a $4.5 billion charge. It ultimately generated only about $60 million in H20 sales under the new licenses. A separate, small H200 program for China was also announced, but had generated zero revenue as of the filing date and carries a 25% import tariff.
NVIDIA Is Deploying $17.5 Billion Into the AI Ecosystem — With Real Risk
Beyond selling chips, NVIDIA invested $17.5 billion in private companies and infrastructure funds during fiscal year 2026, largely in early-stage AI startups that buy its products. It also provided $3.5 billion in guarantees on land, power, and building leases for partner companies. These are illiquid (hard to sell) bets, and the filing explicitly warns there is no guarantee of a return. If those partners fail, NVIDIA could be on the hook for the underlying leases.
The Business Generates Enormous Cash — and Is Returning Much of It to Shareholders
| Metric | FY2026 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | $102.7B | $64.1B |
| Cash & Marketable Securities | $62.6B | $43.2B |
| Shares Repurchased | $40.4B | — |
NVIDIA generated over $100 billion in cash from operations in a single year. It ended the year with $62.6 billion in cash and investments and spent $40.4 billion buying back its own shares, with $58.5 billion still authorized for further buybacks. This signals strong confidence from management in the business's ongoing cash generation.
Customer Concentration Is Growing — Two Buyers Now Account for 36% of Revenue
One unnamed direct customer accounted for 22% of total revenue, and another accounted for 14% — together, 36% of NVIDIA's $216 billion in sales. A year earlier, the top customer was just 12%. This increasing concentration means NVIDIA's near-term results are unusually dependent on the purchasing decisions of a very small number of large cloud and AI companies.