Why Nvidia Stock Is Soaring Today

Shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) are jumping on Thursday. The chipmaker's stock spiked 3.9% as of 10:30 a.m. ET and was up as much as 6.4% earlier in the day. The move up comes as the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) gained 0.4%.

The artificial intelligence (AI) giant reported its Q1 2026 earnings after the market closed yesterday, once again beating Wall Street's already lofty targets.

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Nvidia delivers another major quarter

The company released its quarterly numbers, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.96 on $44.06 billion in sales. The top and bottom lines beat the consensus estimates of $0.93 on $43.31 billion in sales.

Revenue grew 69% year over year (YOY), up from $26 billion in Q1 2025. This was primarily driven by growth in the uber-lucrative data center segment, which grew 73% YOY and now accounts for 88% of the company's overall revenue.

CEO Jensen Huang pointed out that demand for its AI-enabling chips remains sky-high, saying in a statement, "Global demand for Nvidia's AI infrastructure is incredibly strong."

Image source: Getty Images.

China is an issue

The blowout quarter would have been even stronger, the company insists, if it had not been restricted from selling into China. During this quarter, the Trump administration told the company that it would need an export license to sell its already watered-down H20 processors to Chinese companies due to security concerns.

Nvidia incurred $4.5 billion in charges related to the change in policy. It also meant gross margin was 61% instead of the 71.3% the company says it would have reported had the restrictions not gone into effect.

Nvidia continues to dominate

Despite the issues with sales in China, which will have a significant impact on the company's bottom line, there is too much demand elsewhere to slow this train down. Nvidia continues to fire on all cylinders, and although the rate of growth moving forward won't match that of the company's peak last year, it is still more than enough to justify its current valuation.

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Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.