Nvidia Reports 70% Revenue Increase Despite US Export Restrictions

The semiconductor giant Nvidia, currently the world's most valuable company, has announced a remarkable 70% increase in revenue for the last quarter compared to the same period last year. The company, based in California, reported revenues reaching approximately $44.1 billion (around EUR38.8 billion). This marks a 12% increase from the previous quarter.

Nvidia's profit also saw significant growth, rising by over 25% year-on-year to nearly $18.8 billion. For the upcoming quarter from April to June, the company forecasts revenues of $45 billion, which would represent only a 2% increase from the previous quarter. Following this announcement, Nvidia's stock surged nearly 5% in after-hours trading.

Key to Nvidia's success are its chips, which have become essential technology for artificial intelligence applications. However, CEO Jensen Huang has raised concerns that U.S. export restrictions could enable Chinese AI companies to gain a competitive edge. According to Nvidia's estimates, the company expects to lose $8 billion in revenue this quarter due to these restrictions.

Huang noted that the platform that gains traction in China could emerge as a global leader, criticizing the current U.S. export policies that effectively shut out American firms from the Chinese market. Under former President Joe Biden, the U.S. implemented restrictions on the sale of advanced high-performance chips to China, which has forced Nvidia to supply a slower version of its chips, known as H20, to Chinese clients.

Recently, President Donald Trump expanded these restrictions, which now include even Nvidia's slower chip systems. The company argues that it is technically unfeasible to downgrade its existing chips further to comply with the new export requirements.

The U.S. government aims to curb China's economic and technological rise through these export bans. Huang has described this strategy as a failure, asserting that U.S. trade policies inadvertently bolster Chinese competitors like Huawei. He emphasized that the question is no longer whether China will develop AI capabilities, but rather if one of the largest AI markets will operate on American platforms.

Without competition from U.S. firms, Chinese providers could strengthen their positions in the market, undermining American competitiveness, according to Huang. He remarked that the U.S. government has underestimated China's ability to produce AI chips, a notion he finds increasingly invalid.

Despite these challenges, Nvidia is finding opportunities in other regions. As part of a trade agreement under President Trump, Nvidia has committed to selling hundreds of thousands of AI chips to Saudi Arabia, including 18,000 of its Blackwell chips to a startup linked to the country's sovereign wealth fund.