Nvidia Crushes Expectations with $51.2B Data Center Sales and Bullish Chip Forecasts

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) again surpassed Wall Street expectations with its third-quarter results, spotlighting data center sales that hit a staggering $51.2 billion. This represented a 66% increase year-over-year and significantly outpaced the $49.09 billion consensus, underscoring the company's dominance in AI-related hardware.

The market's eyes zeroed in on Nvidia's guidance for its Blackwell and Rubin GPUs, which analysts had been eagerly awaiting. Sales of the high-end GB300 chip formed two-thirds of Blackwell sales, reinforcing the company's forecast of $500 billion in revenue from these chips through 2025 and 2026. What's more, recently inked deals with HUMAIN and Anthropic were not included in this figure, hinting at potential upside beyond the massive baseline.

Nvidia's forecast for the current quarter also raised eyebrows. The $65 billion sales guidance crushed analyst expectations of about $61.66 billion, indicating strong momentum remains in place. JPMorgan's Harlan Sur noted that the company's order pipeline suggests ongoing demand will continue exceeding supply, with growth primarily dependent on how fast production capacity can scale.

Wall Street responded with renewed enthusiasm. Deutsche Bank, while maintaining a hold rating and setting a $215 price target, acknowledged Nvidia's strong leadership in AI compute and networking. Their target implies around 15% upside from the recent share price near $186.

On the more bullish side, Morgan Stanley bumped its price target to $235, up from $220, implying 26% upside. They applauded Nvidia's execution, highlighting a $10 billion sequential revenue increase, surpassing guidance by $3 billion, and another $8 billion expected soon.

UBS sees Nvidia's earnings per share climbing substantially by 2027, forecasting roughly $11 while Street consensus stands near $8.50. The bank credits Nvidia with expanding its grip across AI applications ranging from text to video across industries.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan both raised their price targets to $250. Goldman views Nvidia's AI training model as sustainable and cost-effective versus peers, while JPMorgan appreciates Nvidia's ability to capture much of the incremental AI spending despite lingering debate over the pace of long-term AI investment.

Citi and Barclays showed even more confidence, lifting targets to $270 and $275, respectively. Citi highlighted expanding wafer capacity at TSMC as a key factor supporting growth beyond the $500 billion revenue guidance, while Barclays emphasized the company's positive outlook amidst gating factors in demand.

Bank of America doubled down with a $275 target and reiterated its 'buy' stance, citing strong AI demand and tight supply management as drivers while revising up earnings estimates for fiscal years 2027 and 2028.

The results affirm Nvidia's hefty slice of the AI hardware pie, with its Blackwell and Rubin chips at the forefront. Whether this aggressive forecast holds as chip supply scales and competitors react remains a question. For now, Nvidia is riding a wave few others can match.