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What do revenue growth and the stock reaction show?

Nvidia reported $96.2 billion in revenue in its latest period, with data center sales reaching $89 billion. The company said it expects about $108 billion in revenue for the current quarter. After the results, the stock rose more than 6% in Thursday morning trading, putting it on track for its strongest daily performance since February.

The headline that drew the market’s attention was not just sales growth, but the way Nvidia’s balance sheet has become a tool for financing the artificial intelligence ecosystem. The value of Nvidia’s stakes in public and private companies rose to $95.6 billion at the end of July, up from less than $100 million at the start of 2020. The company said its total equity investments now stand at about $99 billion. According to Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, AI labs that Nvidia plans to support through its balance sheet could account for roughly a quarter of the company’s business next year.

How is Nvidia financing its customers?

Longer terms, investments and revenue guarantees

Colette Kress said demand for computing power at leading AI labs is extraordinary, but that some customers do not have the balance sheets or credit profiles to support this pace of infrastructure expansion. Against that backdrop, Nvidia is giving some major customers payment terms of up to one year for data center purchases. The company’s trade receivables rose to $63.1 billion, while the average collection period lengthened from 45 days to 60 days.

  • Nvidia’s portfolio includes stakes in companies such as Intel, CoreWeave, Coherent, Nokia, Synopsys and Nebius.
  • The company is also helping some AI cloud providers secure financing by offering minimum revenue guarantees.

Nvidia stresses that it is not directly extending credit under this model. As Kress put it, "We are not lending in this model." The company earns revenue from hardware sales while also taking a share of rental income above a set minimum threshold.

What are the guarantee obligations, and how do they affect profits?

Nvidia disclosed guarantee obligations totaling as much as $108.5 billion. Nearly all of that, or $105 billion, is tied to data center capacity being developed by SB Energy for OpenAI. That support will begin to phase in as nine data centers come online around fiscal 2029 and will decline as OpenAI makes payments.

The company also said it has struck preliminary agreements with major investors aimed at channeling more than $500 billion into AI infrastructure. In the same quarter, Nvidia paid out $25.8 billion in share buybacks and dividends, generated $21.3 billion in free cash flow and also borrowed $25 billion. Investment gains of $7.8 billion also contributed to profit. The picture has reinforced why some investors now see Nvidia not only as a chip supplier in AI infrastructure, but also as a financing hub that helps keep spending moving.

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