Nvidia reported second-quarter revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106% from a year earlier and 18% from the prior quarter, blowing past the $92.2 billion consensus. The chipmaker also issued a fiscal 2028 growth outlook of 70%, well above the 44% analysts had modeled, though it withheld a specific revenue target for that year. Shares, which dipped on the initial print, rose more than 5% in after-hours trading as management walked through the numbers.
Guidance misses the street by a wide margin
For the current quarter, Nvidia guided to $91 billion plus or minus 2%, a range of $89.2 billion to $92.8 billion. The average analyst estimate sat at $103.9 billion, a figure the company’s outlook does not reach. The source describes the guidance as “outpacing” expectations, but the arithmetic runs the other way: the midpoint is roughly $12 billion below the street. Management did not explain the gap on the call.
Data center split reveals the real customers
Data center revenue came in at $89 billion versus an $85.7 billion estimate. The segment grew 92% year over year from $39.1 billion in the year-ago quarter and 18% sequentially from $75.2 billion. Nvidia now breaks the unit into two buckets: $48.7 billion from hyperscalers and $40.3 billion from what it calls AI clouds, industrial, and enterprise, a classification that separates the big cloud landlords from sovereign AI builds and on-premises deployments. The split makes clear that nearly half the AI spend still flows through a handful of mega-cap buyers.
Earnings beat comes with an accounting asterisk
Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $2.22, above the $2.06-to-$2.09 range. Last quarter the company posted $1.87 non-GAAP and $2.39 GAAP. Nvidia has begun folding stock-based compensation into its non-GAAP measure, which it acknowledges makes year-over-year comparisons less direct. The change flatters the non-GAAP line relative to prior periods without altering the cash economics.
Huang frames compute as revenue
“AI has reached its inflection point. It’s doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue,” Chief Executive Jensen Huang said in the release. “And demand is accelerating.” The statement is a claim about the durability of the spend cycle, not a contract. With fiscal 2028 growth baked in at 70% and no dollar figure attached, the market is being asked to price a trajectory that assumes the current buyer concentration holds and that no meaningful competitor arrives at scale.