Nvidia shares surged higher in the US pre-market on Thursday as the strength of the chip maker’s Q1 results reassured investors that the king of AI wouldn’t be dethroned anytime soon.
Demonstrating that momentum in AI was still firmly intact, Nvidia recorded 69% revenue growth in Q1 2025 compared to a year ago. Revenue was 12% higher in Q1 than in Q4 2024. Data centre revenue was 73% higher than a year ago at $39.1bn.
Nvidia shares were over 4% higher in the pre-market as investors reacted to the release.
The gains came despite Nvidia shedding further light on the impact of curbs on their exports to China, which resulted in a $4.5bn charge in the first quarter.
The market also took the revision of Nvidia Q2 revenue outlook in its stride. The group now sees revenue at $45bn in Q2, despite wiping off $8bn in revenue due to export controls. Revenue of $45bn still represents quarter-on-quarter growth.
“In a quarter of uncertainty, Nvidia has reminded markets why it is the cornerstone of the AI revolution with another solid result and upbeat forecast,” said Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro.
“Investors came into this quarter looking for signs that Nvidia could alleviate short-term concerns. What they got was a clear message that demand remains robust, Blackwell is ramping up fast and these results will restore investor confidence. Despite the China drag, Nvidia’s top-line strength speaks for itself with USD$44 billion in Q1 sales and another USD$45 billion expected next quarter tells us they’re making up for the China loss elsewhere.”
Perhaps there is a school of thought the curbs on exports won’t last long, or investors are confident that global demand for Nvidia’s chip will make up for lost opportunity in China. Nonetheless, Nvidia investors and the wider market will be more than happy with the share price reaction.
From an operation highlights perspective, Nvidia is developing the Stargate infrastructure cluster in Abu Dhabi alongside partners OpenAI and Oracle.
The group is also planning to build factories in the USA under mounting pressure from Donald Trump. New product launches include the DGX SuperPod, which is designed to power agentic AI reasoning.