Defying the AI Skeptics
Despite growing whispers on Wall Street about a potential AI bubble, Nvidia continues to effortlessly prove the doubters wrong. The tech giant’s latest financial results paint a picture of unchecked, explosive growth that shows no signs of slowing down. Driven by an insatiable corporate appetite for AI data centers, the company’s revenue surged a staggering 73% year-over-year to hit $68.1 billion in the latest quarter. That figure easily cruised past analyst expectations and represented a solid 20% jump from just the previous quarter alone. Tech heavyweights like Google, Meta, and OpenAI are currently sinking hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure. Right now, a massive chunk of that cash is flowing directly into Nvidia’s pockets, as their chips remain the undisputed gold standard for both training complex models like ChatGPT and running them in the real world.
Reaping Profits and Shaping the Ecosystem
The bottom line is just as eye-popping. Quarterly net profit essentially doubled, skyrocketing 94% to roughly $43 billion and effortlessly beating earnings per share estimates. Interestingly, Nvidia is putting a portion of this massive war chest right back into the developer ecosystem. By taking financial stakes in various AI startups, the company is effectively engineering “circular deals” where those very same startups turn around and use their fresh capital to buy Nvidia hardware. Looking ahead, the company sees the momentum holding strong. Nvidia set its revenue guidance for the current quarter at $78 billion, with a 2% margin of error, blowing past the $73 billion consensus estimate.
The $20.6 Billion Groq Buyout
With that kind of capital, Nvidia is aggressively expanding its footprint through major strategic acquisitions, most notably its massive $20.6 billion buyout of AI chipmaker Groq in 2025. The blockbuster deal served as a major validation for the broader AI sector, but it had a surprisingly complex emotional impact on one of Groq’s earliest backers. Chamath Palihapitiya, the venture capitalist best known for his SPAC deals, had been quietly pouring money into private companies for years. He took an early leap on Groq, dropping $10 million into the firm back in 2017 and following up with another $52.3 million in 2018. Those aggressive early bets secured him a hefty ownership stake and a prominent seat on the board of directors.
A Melancholic Victory
You’d naturally think a multi-billion dollar exit would be an absolute cause for celebration. For Palihapitiya, the reality hit a lot differently. During a recent sit-down on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” the investor bluntly admitted that when the Nvidia deal finally closed, he felt “incredibly down.” While the rest of the internet was busy calculating his massive payout and cheering the sale, he was hyper-fixated on what could have gone better. He even told his wife, Nathalie Dompe, that he felt genuinely depressed about the whole thing, prompting her to pragmatically advise him to “just take the win here.”
The Cost of High-Stakes Investing
This emotional crash isn’t exactly new territory for Palihapitiya. He explained on the podcast that he routinely feels happiest right before a major milestone hits, rather than in the aftermath. He experienced the exact same letdown after the Facebook IPO as an early investor, and immediately following the Golden State Warriors’ NBA Championship win. It’s a psychological quirk that perfectly encapsulates his relentless work ethic and investment style. He rarely pauses long enough to actually enjoy the victories, choosing instead to agonize over the flaws or instantly worry about what’s left on the table.
Wall Street Shrugs It Off
Back on the corporate side of the Nvidia juggernaut, CEO Jensen Huang remains adamantly bullish. On the latest earnings call, he reiterated to analysts that AI has fundamentally rewired the computing landscape. According to Huang, raw computing capacity directly fuels growth, and the sheer demand for processing power is only going to escalate from here. CFO Colette Kress backed this up, noting that their biggest ongoing headache isn’t finding buyers, but actually manufacturing enough chip systems to satisfy the market. Yet, for all the shattered records, eye-watering profits, and market-shifting acquisitions, investors barely blinked. Nvidia’s stock actually dipped into the red during after-hours trading as the earnings call progressed, eventually clawing its way back to trade mostly flat. It seems that when a company reaches this level of dominance, even blowing the roof off expectations is just priced in as business as usual.