Nvidia Beats Revenue Expectations but Faces Major China Setback
Nvidia has reported record-breaking Q1 revenue of $44.1 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s forecast of $43.25 billion.
The figure marks a 12% jump from the previous quarter and a staggering 69% increase year-over-year. Despite the strong top-line performance, the company is facing mounting pressure from geopolitical hurdles and slowing momentum in key international markets.
A major blow came from new U.S. export restrictions to China, which prevented Nvidia from shipping $2.5 billion worth of H20 AI chips in the quarter. The company also took a $4.5 billion charge tied to unsold inventory and purchase obligations after Washington required a license for shipments of its H20 products to China. In total, Nvidia estimates it lost around $8 billion in potential revenue due to the impact of the trade restrictions and the abrupt drop in Chinese demand.
On the bottom line, the company posted GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $0.76 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.81—both exceeding the expected $0.75. Without the China-related write-down, Nvidia said non-GAAP EPS would have reached $0.96, and margins would have climbed above 71%.
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Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang remained optimistic, emphasizing the company’s leadership in AI infrastructure. He highlighted the rollout of the Blackwell NVL72 AI supercomputer, now in full-scale production, and positioned Nvidia as central to a global push toward AI as a foundational technology.
However, not all analysts are convinced. Bloomberg senior analyst Jay Goldberg believes the company’s rapid growth has hit its limits. Calling the stock a “sell,” he warned that Nvidia is facing too many simultaneous challenges to continue outperforming expectations.
Shares were trading at $138.83 after hours, up 2.9% despite the headwinds. Investors are now awaiting a scheduled interview with CEO Jensen Huang set to air in three hours, where he is expected to provide more context on the China situation and Nvidia’s forward strategy.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
