by Alice Ibarra in Technology

Nvidia announced a massive surge in fourth-quarter profit and sales, exceeding Wall Street's expectations. Revenue reached $39.3 billion, a 12% increase from the previous quarter and a staggering 78% year-over-year growth. This success is largely attributed to the high demand for their Blackwell chips, crucial for powering artificial intelligence systems. Data center sales were a key driver, reaching $35.6 billion, a 93% increase year-over-year. Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, highlighted the "amazing" demand for Blackwell chips, emphasizing the role of AI in driving this growth. He also predicted continued growth, forecasting $43 billion in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. The company's success has propelled its market value to over $3 trillion, making it the second-largest company on Wall Street. Despite concerns about inflation and potential economic challenges, Nvidia's performance, along with other AI-related companies, has significantly contributed to the recent record highs of the S&P 500. The company acknowledged potential impacts from tariffs but stated they are awaiting further clarification from the administration. The emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, briefly impacted Nvidia's stock, but the company ultimately viewed DeepSeek's advancements as positive for the industry. Nvidia's future outlook remains positive, with Huang predicting a "next wave" of AI development in areas such as agentic AI, physical AI, and sovereign AI.