NVIDIA Projects $28 Billion Revenue Amid Generative AI Demand Surge

Why this is trending right now

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) reported record-breaking first-quarter revenue of $26.0 billion on May 22, representing a 262% increase from the previous year. This figure surpassed the $24.6 billion consensus estimate provided by LSEG analysts. The primary driver of this growth was the Data Center division, which generated $22.6 billion in revenue—a 427% year-over-year increase—fueled by massive deployments of the Hopper GPU architecture by cloud service providers and enterprise AI initiatives. Alongside these financial results, NVIDIA announced a ten-for-one forward stock split effective June 7, 2024, and a 150% increase in its quarterly cash dividend. CEO Jensen Huang stated that the "next industrial revolution has begun," as companies transition toward "AI factories" to produce artificial intelligence as a new commodity.

The last 24 hours: a timeline

Anticipation for the report caused NVIDIA shares to remain volatile throughout the trading session on May 22. At 4:00 PM EDT, immediately following the closing bell, NVIDIA released its Q1 2025 earnings statement. Within minutes, shares rose approximately 4% in after-hours trading as the revenue and earnings per share (EPS) figures became public. By 5:00 PM EDT, during the earnings call, management confirmed that demand for the upcoming Blackwell platform currently exceeds supply, with this trend expected to persist well into 2025. By 7:00 PM EDT, the stock split announcement had become the focal point for retail investors, contributing to a further 6% increase in after-hours valuation, pushing the share price above the $1,000 threshold for the first time.

What could happen next

The immediate impact of the stock split will likely increase liquidity and accessibility for individual investors starting June 10, when shares begin trading on a split-adjusted basis. From a technical standpoint, NVIDIA’s guidance for Q2 revenue at $28 billion suggests that the production ramp of the H200 and early Blackwell components is progressing as scheduled. However, analysts at Wedbush note that the company faces ongoing regulatory challenges regarding export restrictions to China, which NVIDIA is attempting to mitigate with specialized H20 products. Further market reaction will depend on the June 7 effective date for the split and the broader performance of the Nasdaq-100, for which NVIDIA has become a primary directional indicator. The company's expansion into the Spectrum-X Ethernet networking market is projected to reach a multi-billion-dollar run rate within the year, based on management's current forecasts.