Nvidia Flexes AI Prowess Yet Again, Delivers Solid Earnings Amid Tariff Woes

Shares of artificial intelligence bellwether Nvidia soared around 6% in extended trading hours overnight as the company delivered yet another quarter of solid growth, faring better than market expectations, even as it sailed through tariff turbulences that tempered demand.

The AI giant announced its earnings for the February-April period on Wednesday against the backdrop of Trump’s flip-flops on trade tariffs that have left Big Tech companies in a pickle, mostly due to the heavy levies imposed on China- a key market.

While Trump’s tariff restrictions did cap Nvidia’s quarterly numbers, the company still managed to deliver a beat on analyst expectations. The company made $18.8-bn during the February-April period, which roughly translates to 76 cents per share, reflecting a 26% growth on year.

Revenue surged 69% from a year ago to $44.1 billion. If not for a $4.5 billion charge that Nvidia absorbed to account for the US government’s restrictions on its chip sales to China, Nvidia would have made 96 cents per share, far above the 73 cents per share envisioned by analysts.

Another big positive that cheered investors was Nvidia’s projection to deliver revenue worth around $45-bn for the May-July quarter, a ballpark figure that the market was projecting. That guidance factors in an estimated $8 billion in lost sales to China due to continuing export controls, on top of a $2.5 billion hit during the first quarter.

On a call with analysts, CEO Jensen Huang warned of the long-term consequences of US trade restrictions, noting that the curbs have prompted China to accelerate domestic chip development. Huang estimated China’s AI chip market at around $50 billion and criticised the assumption underpinning US policy that China would be unable to develop its own alternatives. “That assumption was always questionable, and now it’s clearly wrong,” he said.

Despite reduced access to the Chinese market, investors appeared reassured by Nvidia’s continued operational strength and market position. The company’s stock rose over 4% in after-hours trading, recovering further ground after last month’s sharp sell-off, which briefly wiped $1.2 trillion from its market value.

Nvidia closed regular trading on Wednesday at $134.81, just shy of its level before Trump’s inauguration on 20 January. Its shares had plunged to as low as $86.62 in the wake of escalating trade tensions.

Investor sentiment has improved in recent weeks, aided by AI investment commitments from Big Tech players such as Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta, all of which rely on Nvidia’s processors to power their AI systems. These tailwinds have helped propel Nvidia’s annual revenue from $27 billion to a projected $130 billion in just two years.

Still, questions remain about the sustainability of that growth, particularly as US trade actions raise the risk of further market closures. In response, Nvidia has begun repositioning itself strategically like announcing plans to manufacture AI chips and supercomputers in Arizona and Texas, and joining Trump on a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, where the company is eyeing new opportunities as the region pushes to diversify away from oil.

The combination of operational performance, strategic pivots, and demand from the AI sector suggests Nvidia remains well placed even as geopolitical headwinds persist.