[Click eStock] "NVIDIA Strong Earnings... Blackwell Concerns Resolved"

Korea Investment & Securities maintained a 'positive' opinion on Nvidia, stating that "its earnings exceeded market expectations."

On the 28th, Chaemin-sook, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "Sales of the next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) graphics processing unit (GPU) 'Blackwell' exceeded expectations. The market had been concerned about delays in Blackwell mass production, but those concerns have been sufficiently resolved."

The day before, Nvidia announced that its revenue for the fourth quarter of last year (November 2024 to January 2025) reached $39.33 billion (approximately 57 trillion KRW). This represents a 12.1% increase compared to the previous quarter and a 77.9% increase compared to the same period last year. Earnings per share (EPS) were $0.89 (up 9.9% from the previous quarter and 72.5% from the same period last year), surpassing the market average forecasts by 2.8% and 5.5%, respectively.

Data center revenue reached $35.58 billion, up 16% from the previous quarter and 93% year-over-year, setting a new record high. The guidance for the next quarter (company's own earnings forecast) presented a midpoint revenue of $43 billion and a gross margin of 71%.

In particular, Blackwell sales exceeded expectations, recording $11 billion. Researcher Cha noted, "There were many concerns such as rumors about Blackwell redesign issues and heat problems, as well as delays in GB200 ramp-up, but the numbers prove that mass production is proceeding without problems."

He added, "The reason for the decrease in gross margin during the Blackwell ramp-up period is that meeting customer demand takes priority," and "the gross margin is expected to recover to the mid-70% range in the second half of this year as mass production stabilizes."

Furthermore, Cha said, "It is also positive that despite paying excess costs to accelerate the initial mass production of Blackwell, a gross margin of over 70% was maintained," and "As the proportion of Blackwell sales increases significantly in the second half, the acceleration of profit growth along with sales will speed up."