Nvidia 2019 results: share price up after chipmaker exceeds earnings forecasts

NVIDIA recorded revenue for its fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019 of $2.21 billion, down 24% in the same period a year earlier, but despite a weaker Q4 the company saw full-year 2019 sales hit $11.72 billion, representing a 21% increase on last year’s performance.

The stronger than expected fiscal year helped shares in the US-based chipmaker soar on Thursday and return a substantial amount of profit back to shareholders over the course of the last 12 months of trading.

‘This was a turbulent close to what had been a great year,’ Nvidia Founder and CEO Jensen Huang said. ‘The combination of post-crypto excess channel inventory and recent deteriorating end-market conditions drove a disappointing quarter.’

Nvidia results: key figures

GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $0.92, down 48 percent from $1.78 a year ago and down 53 percent from $1.97 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.80, down 53 percent from $1.72 a year earlier and down 57 percent from $1.84 in the previous quarter.

For fiscal 2019, revenue was $11.72 billion, up 21 percent from $9.71 billion a year earlier. GAAP earnings per diluted share were $6.63, up 38 percent from $4.82 a year earlier. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $6.64, up 35 percent from $4.92 a year earlier.

‘Despite this setback, NVIDIA’s fundamental position and the markets we serve are strong,’ Huang said. ‘The accelerated computing platform we pioneered is central to some of world’s most important and fastest growing industries – from artificial intelligence to autonomous vehicles to robotics. We fully expect to return to sustained growth.’

Nvidia share price rises after exceeding expectations

The US chipmaker has had a good week in the market, with the share price steadily climbing as investors anticipated what turned out to be a great end to its fiscal year.

Its fourth quarter was a major blip in what is the first decline in sales for Nvidia in five years, driven by a crypto crash causing an inventory pile-up at the company that made a significant dent in Q4 revenues.

Nvidia returns nearly $2 billion to shareholders

In fiscal 2019, NVIDIA returned $1.95 billion to shareholders through a combination of $1.58 billion in share repurchases and $371 million in quarterly cash dividends.

Of the $3 billion Nvidia intends to return to shareholders by the end of fiscal 2020, $700 million in share repurchases were completed in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. The company intends to return the remaining $2.3 billion by the end of fiscal 2020, through a combination of share repurchases and cash dividends.

Nvidia will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share on March 22 to all shareholders of record on March 1.