Markets
Nvidia conference with Jensen Huang
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address during the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference in March 2024 (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Nvidia’s sales surprise is now smaller than when the AI boom started

The chip designer’s still enviable revenue growth only starts to look unimpressive when you compare it to itself.

Luke Kawa

Of course Nvidia’s revenue growth is slowing. That’s a problem of success thanks to how accomplished the chip designer has been in fueling AI as a powerful investment theme, which has propelled sales from about $7.2 billion in the three months ended April 2023 to $46.7 billion in its most recent quarter.

The colloquial (but technically incorrect) thinking around the law of large numbers, which Amazon CEO Andy Jassy alluded to in explaining why Amazon Web Services wasn’t growing as fast as its rivals, is that the bigger you get, the harder it is to grow as fast.

That period that ended in April 2023 — Nvidia’s fiscal 2024 first quarter, reported on May 24, 2023 — served as the unofficial launch party for the AI boom that’s since dominated stock market activity. Annual revenue growth peaked at 265% for the three months ended January 2024, and has been on a glide path lower since to 56% as of Q2. That’s still enviable! Only five companies in the S&P 500 are growing their top lines at a faster clip, and none of them have a market value of even $150 billion compared to a whopping $4 trillion for Nvidia.

It’s also not altogether unexpected that Nvidia’s revenue surprises have become smaller over time. Even with the typical dance between management and Wall Street to keep expectations in check, there’s less scope to deliver mammoth top-line beats when the eyes of the entire investing universe are squarely focused on the company and its customers. Revenues surprised to the upside by 10% in its fiscal 2024 Q1 and 22% the subsequent quarter before winnowing down to just 1.1% in this latest release. Again, it’s tougher to deliver bigger surprises, in percent terms, off so high of a base.

But what is a little eyebrow-raising, or noteworthy at the very least, is that even in pure dollar terms, Nvidia’s revenues are now beating expectations by less than they did when the chip designer reported results on May 24, 2023. Sales exceeded the consensus estimate by nearly $677 million that quarter, and by $512 million in Q2.

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

Broadcom jumps after locking down Google as a customer for future generations of TPUs

Shares of Broadcom rose more than 3% in postmarket trading on Monday after its most important customer doubled down on the custom chip specialist’s ability to produce its most valuable commodity.

In a filing, Broadcom said that it entered into a long-term agreement with Google to supply future generations of TPUs (custom AI accelerator chips) as well as a supply assurance agreement for networking and other equipment “through up to 2031.”

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon indicated that Broadcom’s investor relations team told him that Google’s long-term agreement “has revenue commitments that go along with it through the timeline.”

Gemini 3 launched to rave reviews in November. The model was trained on TPUs co-developed by Broadcom and Google.

The same Monday filing showed that Broadcom, Google, and Anthropic expanded a partnership that will see the Claude developer access 3.5 gigawatts of AI compute capacity beginning in 2027, powered by the TPUs co-designed by the custom chip specialist and the search giant.

Bernstein’s Rasgon added that Broadcom’s team suggested these 3.5 gigawatts are “only part of a larger partnership over time.” He thinks Broadcom’s fiscal year 2027 guidance for AI revenues of $100 billion “is looking increasingly light” thanks to this news.

For what it’s worth, the enhanced pact with Anthropic hinges upon the firm’s ability to afford AI compute. But based on the insane trajectory of its run-rate revenue that may not be a big hurdle to clear.

“Broadcom’s expanded agreements with Google and Anthropic add rare multi-year visibility, reinforcing a $40-$50 billion AI revenue opportunity tied to Anthropic’s 3.5 gigawatt deployment starting in 2027, while building on the previously disclosed 1GW ($10 billion) starting in 2H,” wrote Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Kunjan Sobhani and Oscar Hernandez Tejada.

markets

Health insurers surge after Medicare agrees to pay 2.48% more in 2027, a bigger-than-expected boost

Health insurance stocks are surging after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it plans to boost Medicare Advantage and Part D payments by 2.48% in calendar year 2027.

The likes of CVS, Humana, UnitedHealth, Molina Healthcare, Oscar Health, and Elevance Health are gaining in postmarket trading.

Wall Street analysts had anticipated that rates for 2027 would go up between roughly 1% and 1.5%.

These stocks had gotten crushed in late January when the Trump administration proposed relatively flat federal payment rates.

Insurance companies that provide government-sponsored plans, like Medicare Advantage, faced headwinds from higher-than-expected costs in 2025.

markets

Iran war winners Dow, LyondellBasell downgraded by Bank of America

Dow, Inc. and LyondellBasell — two petrochemicals stocks that surged as markets priced in shortages due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — should decline as investors focus on the long-term outlook for normalized petrochemical prices once the war resolves, Bank of America analysts wrote in a note downgrading the two stocks Monday.

BofA moved its rating on the shares from “neutral” to “underperform,” writing:

“Over time, as chemical markets normalize, we expect 1) investor focus to shiſt back to ‘normal’ or ‘sustainable’ earnings profiles and 2) the conflict to resolve without material asset rationalization, both of which likely bias shares lower over the next twelve months.”

Analysts also lowered their stance on another petrochemicals and building materials stock, Westlake, to “neutral” from “buy.”

While cutting those ratings, BofA actually raised its more near-term price targets for the shares. It upped LyondellBasell to $68 from $55, and Dow to $35 from $31.

But those price targets still imply declines of more than 10% compared to where both shares were trading late Monday morning. Both stocks are up roughly 30% since the start of the Iran war.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC. Futures and event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC.