Nvidia Q1 results surpass Wall Street expectations thanks to massive AI chip demand

Artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia's quarterly results surpassed Wall Street's expectations once again, fueled by massive demand for its high-end AI chips.

The company said Wednesday it earned $58.32 billion, or $2.39 per share, in the February-April period, up from $18.78 billion, or 76 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Nvidia earned $1.76 per share.

Revenue jumped 85% to $81.62 billion from $44.01 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.75 per share and revenue of $78.91 billion, according to a poll by FactSet. Nvidia's results have exceeded the analyst projections that shape investors' perceptions since Nvidia's high-end chips emerged as AI's best building blocks three years ago.

"The buildout of AI factories - the largest infrastructure expansion in human history - is accelerating at extraordinary speed," said CEO Jensen Huang in a statement.

For the current quarter, Nvidia forecast revenue of about $91 billion. Analysts are forecasting $87.29 billion.

Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based company dipped slightly after-hours to $222.12 after closing at $223.47 in the regular trading session. As of Wednesday's close, Nvidia had a market value of $5.4 trillion.