Nvidia Stock Nears Its All-Time High. Is It a Buy Now?

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) did it again. The artificial intelligence (AI) leader beat Wall Street expectations with another record quarterly report. The stock surged as much as 6.4% Thursday morning as a result, coming within 5% of its all-time high.

That comes even after Nvidia shares had surged nearly 25% in the last month. Investors expected to hear good things, but the 73% year-over-year growth in data center revenue drove even better-than-expected overall results.

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Nvidia's growing opportunities

Nvidia reported a record $44.1 billion in overall revenue, compared to expectations of $43.3 billion. It also guided investors for $45 billion in fiscal second-quarter sales, even with an expected $8 billion in lost revenue from China sales due to export restrictions. Analysts had penciled in guidance for $45.9 billion.

The bottom line for investors is that growth remains incredibly strong. The export rules scenario remains fluid, too, so the company may be conservative in what it has already written off. Overall, business continues to grow, mostly due to a boom in AI infrastructure build-out.

CEO Jensen Huang stated in the report:

Countries around the world are recognizing AI as essential infrastructure -- just like electricity and the internet -- and Nvidia stands at the center of this profound transformation.

Yet Nvidia isn't just about AI and data centers. Its gaming segment contributed almost 10% of total sales at a record $3.8 billion. That's just one of the growth areas for the company beyond data centers. Robotics and autonomous vehicles are two others.

Nvidia is a cash machine

Investors are piling back into the stock after an April correction because its business prospects remain solid. At the same time, Nvidia is piling up cash reserves. Cash and equivalents on the balance sheet reached $53.7 billion. That's more than $10 billion higher than just one quarter ago. It also comes despite share repurchases made in the quarterly period.

Nvidia is firing on all cylinders. With global growth for AI infrastructure still in an early stage, it's not too late to own the company.

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Howard Smith has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.