Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang doesn’t lack demand. What he lacks is supply.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Finance following the company’s first quarter earnings report Wednesday, Huang pushed back against concerns the company could face a demand lull as it shifts between its current and next generation of AI chips.
“People want to deploy these data centers right now,” Huang said. “They want to put our [graphics processing units] to work right now and start making money and start saving money. And so that demand is just so strong.”
Nvidia is transitioning from its current Hopper AI platform to its more advanced Blackwell system. Ahead of the company’s results on Wednesday, some analysts on Wall Street had raised questions about whether some customers would be more cautious with Hopper orders ahead of the release of the more desirable Blackwell units later this year.
“Hopper demand grew throughout this quarter — after we announced Blackwell — and so that kind of tells you how much demand there is out there,” Huang said.
Huang added that demand for both platforms will outstrip supply well into next year, with the complexity of these chips also challenging the company’s efforts to keep pace.
“Every component, every part of our data center, is the most complex computer the world’s ever made,” Huang said. “And so it’s sensible that almost everything is constrained.”
For the first quarter, Nvidia reported results that topped Wall Street forecasts, with adjusted earnings per share reaching $6.12 on revenue of $26 billion, a 461% and 262% jump from the prior year, respectively. Non-GAAP operating income tallied $18.1 billion in the first quarter.
260% increase YOY.