Nvidia results, guidance get lukewarm response from investors

(Sharecast News) - Investors gave Nvidia a lukewarm response on Thursday, despite forecast-busting results at the chip making giant. The company, whose highly sought semi-conductors are being used to power expansion into artificial intelligence data centres, posted record fourth-quarter revenue of $68.1bn, up 20% compared with the pervious three months and 73% higher than a year earlier.

It also beat expectations of $66bn and led the company to raise sales first quarter guidance to $78bn from $73bn.

More than 90% of sales are now generated from Nvidia's data centre unit, where revenue came in at $62.3bn for the quarter, ahead of expectations for $60.7bn.

"Overall, the initial reaction to Nvidia's results suggest that investors are still unwilling to chase a higher trend in tech stocks right now, even after Nvidia's stunning earnings report," said XTB research director Kathleen Brooks.

"This report will likely be pored over in detail on Thursday, but for now it is not driving a significant rally in the share price."

Brooks said the results "did not generate much reason for disappointment, but even so, some investors may have hoped that CEO Jensen Huang would boost sales pipeline estimates for this year above $500bn".

"Huang was also asked about hyperscalers' and their future capex plans now that there was some pressure on their cash flows. This did not bother Huang, but it could sow a seed of doubt in the mind of investors."

Nvidia shares were up 1.4% in after-hours trade on the US Nasdaq tech market, while they were up 0.42% on the Frankfurt's Xetra exchange.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com