Few companies command the same level of attention as Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) does on Wall Street today. Over the last three years, investors have witnessed something of a generational shift — a chip designer that was originally focused on enhancing graphics for video games has evolved into a fundamental hardware supplier for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
Insatiable demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) has fueled record sales and profits, which the company has reinvested into developing ever-more-powerful architectures at a rapid clip — creating an unparalleled virtuous cycle.
Naturally, skeptics can’t help but wonder when this positive feedback loop will begin to lose momentum. Thankfully, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang just provided investors with some details surrounding the company’s outlook.
Spoiler alert: Nvidia is about to kick its operation into a whole new gear, and shareholders should brace for more growth.
A $500 billion bombshell
In late October, Nvidia hosted its annual GTC Conference in Washington, D.C. During the event, Huang presented his usual master class in marketing as he unveiled the tech specs around Nvidia’s new Blackwell Ultra and upcoming Rubin GPUs.
What investors weren’t anticipating was a financial preview of how impactful these chips are going to be for Nvidia’s business. Huang stated that demand is so high for Blackwell and Rubin that Nvidia now has an order book of $500 billion for these cutting-edge chips. The best part? All of this revenue is expected over just the next five quarters.
Following news of this backlog, investors poured into Nvidia stock — propelling its market cap to over $5 trillion.
The devil’s in the details
It’s important to note that this $500 billion figure Huang offered does not qualify as formal financial guidance. Those forecasts are generally reserved for earnings calls or special press releases.
Another reason investors should take Huang’s commentary with a grain of salt is because, in reality, he was a tad hyperbolic.
Following his comments at GTC, Nvidia’s finance team was swift to paint a more accurate and nuanced picture of the company’s overall data center business.
