Nvidia's 75% margin gives rivals something to aim for

THANKS TO NVIDIA'S practice of reporting earnings outside of the typical cycle for technology companies, the question of whether the almost $5-trillion company will record strong demand in 2026 had already been safely answered well before its latest announcement on Wednesday.

- DAVE LEE

Investors already knew that the hyperscaling AI companies are collectively forecasting around $650 billion in capital expenditures this year, an increase of about 60% from 2025—and Nvidia will get a lot of it.

Preempted by its customers, Nvidia thus needed its own fresh good news to trump what investors already knew. Hello, margins. Adjusted gross margin in the November-January period was 75.2%, the highest it has been since the second half of 2024. The company forecasts that number to be roughly the same in the current quarter. What’s unclear is just how long Nvidia can maintain this extraordinary profitability.