Nvidia smashes Q2, but the China puzzle persists

Nvidia posted $46.7 billion in revenue and $26.4 billion profit in Q2, driven by soaring AI chip demand. But with zero H20 shipments to China.

Nvidia just delivered another blockbuster quarter. Q2 revenue jumped 56 percent year-on-year to $46.7 billion, thanks to relentless demand for AI hardware. Profit surged too, net income hit $26.4 billion, a 59 percent leap.

Nvidia clocked an impressive Q2. (Getty Images via AFP)

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Most of that came from data centers, which raked in $41.1 billion, up 56 percent. Blackwell, Nvidia’s AI workhorse, drove the surge, $27 billion of those sales were Blackwell-powered.

Still, the China story remains messy. Nvidia didn’t ship a single H20 chip to Chinese customers last quarter, even though exports were technically cleared, because the arrangement with U.S. regulators hasn’t been codified. The company did sell $650 million worth of H20 chips to non-China buyers.

On the plus side, Nvidia forecasts $54 billion in Q3 revenue, give or take 2 percent. That’s modestly ahead of Wall Street's estimate, but not enough to calm investor nerves completely.

Still, CEO Jensen Huang isn't looking over his shoulder. He sees a “new industrial revolution” underway and projects $3 to $4 trillion in AI infrastructure spending by decade-end. “The AI race is on,” he declared.

Why it still matters

Nvidia is hitting home runs on its strength in AI compute—but it’s still playing catch-up to geopolitical complexities. Sales are smashing records. Vision remains grand. China, however, is the one thing that could trip it up.

Insight	What it means
AI demand stays strong	Data center growth backs up Nvidia’s leadership, AI isn’t going anywhere.
China remains a wild card	No H20 sales to China expose both policy risk and lost revenue potential.
Outlook’s solid, not stellar	$54 billion guidance is realistic—but not knock-it-out impressive.
Vision staying big-picture	Huang’s trillion-dollar bet underscores why Nvidia remains the central AI play.