Nvidia Posts 73% Q4 Revenue Growth and Warns of $4.5B China Charge
Nvidia reported Q4 revenue of $68.13 billion, up 73% year-over-year, and guided Q1 sales between $76.44 billion and $79.56 billion, beating estimates. CEO Jensen Huang said structural AI compute shifts underpin capex spending of nearly $700 billion into 2027, but noted U.S. export restrictions cost Nvidia a $4.5 billion China inventory write-down.
1. Record Q4 Results and Strong Guidance
Nvidia delivered fourth-quarter revenue of $68.13 billion, a 73% increase from a year earlier, outperforming the $66 billion consensus. For the first quarter, the company projected revenue between $76.44 billion and $79.56 billion, well above analyst forecasts.
2. CEO Defends AI CapEx Surge
CEO Jensen Huang emphasized that the rise of agentic AI systems has triggered a structural shift in computing, asserting that ‘compute equals revenues’ and forecasting sustained investment by hyperscale customers through calendar 2027 on the back of long-term purchase commitments.
3. China Export Restrictions Impact
New U.S. export licensing rules have restricted shipments of Nvidia’s H200 and H20 chips to China, forcing the company to write down $4.5 billion of inventory tied to the affected products and raising concerns about near-term China revenue growth.
4. Orbital Datacenter Cooling Bottleneck
During the Q4 call, Huang addressed questions on space-based AI datacenters, noting that while orbit offers abundant energy and space, the lack of airflow makes heat dissipation via conduction challenging and requires large radiators, limiting economics today.