Strong AI chip demand fuels Nvidia's Q2 results well beyond Wall Street's expectations

Nvidia's latest quarterly results once again blew past Wall Street's expectations as revenue for the computer chip company's high-end artificial intelligence chips soared, the latest sign that AI infrastructure spending remains strong.

The company reported on Wednesday net income of $59.69 billion, or $2.46 per share, for the May-July period. That compares to net income of $26.42 billion, or $1.08 per share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding certain items, earnings were $2.22 per share, well above the $2.09 per share consensus forecast by Wall Street analysts, according to FactSet.

Revenue more than doubled from a year earlier to $96.22 billion, surpassing analysts’ average forecast of $92.27 billion.

The Santa Clara, California, company's results have regularly cleared the bar set by analysts in the past three years, often by a wide margin, since Nvidia’s high-end chips emerged as AI’s best building blocks.

Along with higher profit and revenue, however, Nvidia’s operating expenses surged 55% to $8.41 billion.

For the current quarter, Nvidia forecast revenue of about $108 billion. Analysts are forecasting $104.86 billion.

If Nvidia hits its revenue target for the August-October period, it will translate into a roughly 89% increase from last year — an indication that Nvidia’s phenomenal growth rate is still accelerating.

Nvidia’s shares fell 1.8% in after-hours trading shortly after it released its latest results. The stock ended the regular trading session 1.6% lower and is up 12.4% so far this year.