Nvidia beats analyst expectations despite challenges from tariffs

Nvidia, a prominent player in artificial intelligence technology, managed to achieve strong growth despite facing challenges due to tariffs. The company reported another quarter of robust performance fueled by the increasing demand for its powerful chips that are enhancing the capabilities of computers and making them more similar to human intelligence.

These results, announced for the period between February and April, were obtained amid the uncertainties posed by President Donald Trump’s trade war. The back-and-forth nature of the trade dispute has negatively impacted Nvidia and other major tech firms that have been leveraging the AI boom to drive their revenues and stock prices higher.

Trump’s implementation of tariffs, some of which have been later reduced or temporarily lifted, had a significant impact on the market valuation of Nvidia and other tech giants as they entered the earnings season. Investors expressed concerns about the potential consequences of the trade tensions on the industry’s outlook, causing fluctuations in stock prices and overall market sentiment.

Those worries have eased during the past six weeks as most Big Tech companies lived up to or exceeded the analyst projections that steer investors, capped by Nvidia’s report for its fiscal first quarter.

Nvidia earned $18.8 billion, or 76 cents per share, for the period, a 26% increase from the same time last year. Revenue surged 69% from a year ago to $44.1 billion. If not for a $4.5 billion charge that Nvidia absorbed to account for the U.S. government’s restrictions on its chip sales to China, Nvidia would have made 96 cents per share — far above the 73 cents per share, excluding certain items envisioned by analysts.

The performance helped Nvidia’s shares by gaining nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out. Nvidia’s stock price ended Wednesday’s regular trading session at $134.81, just slightly below where it stood before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. The price had plunged to as low as $86.62 last month during a nosedive that temporarily erased $1.2 trillion in shareholder wealth.