Nvidia Earnings Preview: Can a Strong Quarter Steady the AI Trade?

We expect another strong quarter from Nvidia. Blackwell Ultra continues to ramp, Vera Rubin is starting to contribute, and data center demand remains supportive of revenue and earnings. Our longer-term view on the company remains positive.

Investors are asking more of Nvidia now. How much will customers keep spending?

Can they pay on time? Will new products put pressure on margins? Huang already had plenty to answer for before the controversy surrounding him added another complication.

Nvidia reports its fiscal 2027 third-quarter results on November 17, with the earnings call scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern.

Congress has asked Huang to attend a closed-door briefing the following day. Between reassuring investors and answering Washington, he faces questions that go well beyond the quarterly numbers.

This Quarter Looks Solid. Guidance Matters More.

Last quarter, Nvidia generated $96.22 billion in revenue, with data centers contributing $89.02 billion, or roughly 92.5% of the total.

The company guided to $108 billion in revenue for the current quarter, plus or minus 2%, and a gross margin midpoint of 74%. That outlook excluded data center compute revenue from China.

We are positive on this quarter’s revenue prospects and see room to beat the midpoint of guidance.

Blackwell Ultra is already generating substantial revenue, and shipments of the new platform have begun. There are identifiable products and orders supporting the growth.

The customer base is also broadening. Hyperscale customers contributed $48.71 billion last quarter, while AI cloud, industrial an…