Nvidia says its revenue forecast has grown more bullish

SAN FRANCISCO - Nvidia, countering fears about an artificial intelligence (AI) spending bubble, said that an upbeat revenue forecast delivered in October has grown brighter due to strong demand.

Large customer deals – and increasing uptake of new AI models – have brought in more orders than anticipated, the company said during presentations on Jan 7 at the CES 2026 show in Las Vegas. In October, Nvidia had projected about half a trillion dollars of revenue from current and future data centre chips by the end of 2026.

Though the company did not provide a new figure, it suggested that revenue in that timeframe would eclipse the US$500 billion (S$640 billion) level. 

“We should have a very good year,” chief executive Jensen Huang said during a press conference. Deals with companies such as AI provider Anthropic, as well as improving prospects in China, “should increase our expectations of that number”.

Nvidia’s outlook is crucial to allaying investor concerns about the AI industry. The company, which supplies the chips that power AI models, has maintained that customer spending will stay strong because the benefits are so large.

For calendar 2026, Wall Street currently projects Nvidia will have total revenue of US$321.2 billion, an increase of 57 per cent. For 2027, Wall Street estimates the company will end the year with more than US$400 billion in sales.

In separate remarks at a JPMorgan Chase event, Nvidia chief financial officer Colette Kress said that corporate data processing needs – rather than just AI – are also fuelling demand for next-generation computing. That will help overall investments reach multiple trillions by the end of the decade. 

“That US$500 billion has definitely got larger,” she said.

Still, the remarks failed to impress investors. Nvidia shares fell 0.4 per cent to US$187.28 at the close in New York. They had gained 39 per cent in 2025.

A key question is whether Nvidia can get back into the booming market for AI chips in China. US export restrictions have hobbled its business in that region, but the Trump administration has said that Nvidia can start selling its H200 chip to customers in the country.

“The customer demand is high, quite high, very high,” Mr Huang said. “We’ve fired up our supply chain. H200s are flowing through the line.”

Mr Huang said the last details of licences from the US government are being finalised, and he does not expect any formal declaration of approval from Beijing. Chinese government sign-off will come in the form of allowing companies there to submit orders, he said. 

The previous day, Nvidia provided details about new chips that will go on sale in the second half of the year. Mr Huang also touted the power efficiency of the processors, which can deliver increased performance without requiring new computers to house them. 

His comments about cooling systems, meanwhile, caused ripples on Wall Street. Mr Huang said that racks of the new Rubin chips can be cooled with water that does not require a chiller. Shares of companies that make cooling technology, such as Johnson Controls International, tumbled on Jan 6.

Energy use has been another concern for the AI industry. Mr Huang dismissed fears about running out of power to feed data centres, calling shortages a normal consequence of “industrial revolutions”.

He called for work on investing in all types of new power generation. BLOOMBERG