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Revenue forecast slightly beats estimates but not enough
to wow
markets
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CEO projects $3-4 trillion AI infrastructure spend by
decade-end
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Nvidia's ( NVDA ) AI chip demand remains strong amid market fatigue
By Max A. Cherney
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO
Jensen Huang on Wednesday dismissed concern about an end to a
spending boom on artificial intelligence chips, projecting
opportunities will expand into a multi-trillion-dollar market
over the next five years.
Huang sought to reassure investors rattled by
indications of slowing growth at the chipmaker at the center of
the investment frenzy. Nvidia ( NVDA ) earlier in the day forecast
third-quarter revenue meeting analyst estimates but short of the
lofty expectations that have sent its share price up roughly
one-third this year.
The founder and CEO's bullish outlook contrasts with
recent signs of fatigue in AI-focused stocks and comments from
industry leaders about overheated investor enthusiasm.
"A new industrial revolution has started. The AI race is
on," Huang said. "We see $3 trillion to $4 trillion in AI
infrastructure spend by the end of the decade."
Pushing up the chipmaker's shares are expectations of
demand from Big Tech, data center owners known as hyperscalers
and China.
"The mega caps are the ones propelling a lot of the capex
that Nvidia ( NVDA ) is benefiting from. But obviously Nvidia ( NVDA ) still is
growing, is able to sell," said Matt Orton, head of advisory
solutions at Raymond James Investment Management.
"If anything, this just highlights that there's a lot of
durability to this (AI) trade... The businesses of these
hyperscalers can continue to accelerate, and you're not seeing
any sort of sign of a slowdown being reflected in the results of
Nvidia ( NVDA )."
While Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares have outpaced a roughly 10% gain in the
broader market, AI-facing stocks have shown signs of
fatigue. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman set off alarm bells this month
when he said investors may be "overexcited" about AI.
On Wednesday, Huang sounded unperturbed.
"The more you buy, the more you grow," Huang said,
arguing that Nvidia's ( NVDA ) technological advances allow customers to
process increasing amounts of data while using less energy. "The
buzz is: everything sold out."
Case in point: A customer outside China bought $650 million
worth of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) H20 reduced-capability chip aimed at the
Chinese market in the latest quarter, the chipmaker said.
Huang based his forecast in part on the $600 billion he
expects for data center capital spending this year from major
customers such as Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon ( AMZN ).
For a data center costing as much as $60 billion, Nvidia ( NVDA )
can capture about $35 billion, Huang said.
Huang's remarks contrast with a tepid third-quarter
sales forecast of about $54 billion, slightly ahead of the
$53.14 billion average of analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.
Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Huang, however, see little reason for AI chip
profit growth to slow as second-quarter net income surpassed the
fiscal third-quarter profit of Big Tech peer Apple ( AAPL ).
The company's high-end Blackwell chips are largely spoken
for based on 2026 forecasts from its biggest customers. Its
earlier-generation Hopper processors are being snapped up too.
"When you have something that is new, and it's growing as
fast as it is, and with all of the huge capex announcements from
the hyperscalers, it's evidence that we're in the early stages"
of the AI boom, said Globalt Investments portfolio manager
Thomas Martin.