Nvidia smashes earnings-per-share estimates with strong second quarter

Chip maker Nvidia had another strong quarter.

The graphics company reported $977.2 million in revenue for the second quarter of its fiscal 2014. It also produced 23 cents per share, which is well above the 13 cents it predicted for the quarter.

“The GPU business continued to grow, driving our fourth consecutive quarter of record margins,” Nvidia chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang said in a statement. “We also began shipping Grid virtualized graphics, which puts the power of Nvidia GPUs into the datacenter. We look forward to a strong second half, with new Tegra 4 devices coming to market, Shield moving beyond the U.S. and broader sampling of Project Logan, our next-generation Tegra processor, which brings Kepler, the world’s most advanced GPU, to mobile.”

Nvidia reported a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting practices) net income of $133.3 million. The company’s aforementioned record margins were at 56.3 percent.

Year-over-year, Nvidia’s earnings are down 6.4 percent from $1.044 billion. That’s primarily due to a nearly 10 percent rise in operating expenses from $342.5 million to $400 milliion. Net income is also down 21.8 percent.

Looking ahead, Nvidia expects third-quarter revenues of around $1.05 billion, and it expects margins to remain flat at around 56.3 percent. The hardware manufacturer also expects operating expenses to increase to $418 million.

Nvidia stock is up 1 percent to $14.85 per share in after-hours trading.