How Rare Is Nvidia’s Record Profit Margin?

After paying the costs of running its business, NVIDIA (NVDA) now keeps about 65 cents of every dollar it sells. The company supplies the chips and systems that go into AI data centers. Measured over the last twelve months, this operating margin is the highest Nvidia has recorded in ten years. What would you guess that figure usually is for Nvidia?

How Unusual Is This For Nvidia?

Nvidia typically keeps about half that amount. At the end of July, its twelve-month operating margin was 65.2%, compared to a middle value of 33.0% across the last ten years.

Nvidia eclipsed a previous record of 64% set just one quarter earlier over the twelve months to April. That marks two new highs in a row. The record is recent, and the company continues to push it upward.

What Is Behind Nvidia’s Record Profit Margin?

Nvidia is moving far more of what goes into AI data centers. Sales have now grown from a year earlier for 13 quarters in a row, and they more than doubled in the latest quarter. During an August 26 call, management said a surge in AI demand is behind the growth. Executives describe what it sells as a full AI factory platform. Following the close of the quarter to July, Nvidia’s Vera Rubin systems began shipping in August.

In its full-year forecast for fiscal 2027, management expects operating expenses to rise by a little over 50%. Yet sales in the latest quarter more than doubled….