GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were a record $1.78, up 80 percent from $0.99 a year ago and up 34 percent from $1.33 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $1.72, also a record, up 52 percent from $1.13 a year earlier and up 29 percent from $1.33 in the previous quarter.

For fiscal 2018, revenue was a record $9.71 billion, up 41 percent from $6.91 billion a year earlier. GAAP earnings per diluted share were a record $4.82, up 88 percent from $2.57 a year earlier. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $4.92, also a record, up 61 percent from $3.06 a year earlier.

“We achieved another record quarter, capping an excellent year,” said Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive officer of NVIDIA. “In a powerful sign of our progress, attendees at NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conferences reached 22,000, up tenfold in five years, as software developers working in AI, self-driving cars, and a broad range of other fields continued to discover the acceleration and money-saving benefits of our GPU computing platform.

“Industries around the world are racing to incorporate AI. Virtually every internet and cloud service provider has embraced our Volta GPUs. Hundreds of transportation companies are using our NVIDIA DRIVE platform. From manufacturing and healthcare to smart cities, innovators are using our platform to invent the future,” he said.

Capital Return

During fiscal 2018, NVIDIA returned $1.25 billion to shareholders through a combination of $909 million in share repurchases and $341 million in quarterly cash dividends.

For fiscal 2019, NVIDIA intends to return $1.25 billion to shareholders through ongoing quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases.

NVIDIA will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share on March 16, 2018, to all shareholders of record on February 23, 2018.

Q4 Fiscal 2018 Summary

GAAP
($ in millions except earnings per share)	Q4 FY18			Q3 FY18			Q4 FY17			Q/Q	Y/Y
Revenue	$2,911			$2,636			$2,173			Up 10%	Up 34%
Gross margin		61.9%			59.5%			60.0%		Up 240 bps	Up 190 bps
Operating expenses	$728			$674			$570			Up 8%	Up 28%
Operating income	$1,073			$895			$733			Up 20%	Up 46%
Net income	$1,118			$838			$655			Up 33%	Up 71%
Diluted earnings per share	$1.78			$1.33			$0.99			Up 34%	Up 80%

 

Non-GAAP
($ in millions except earnings per share)	Q4 FY18			Q3 FY18			Q4 FY17			Q/Q	Y/Y
Revenue	$2,911			$2,636			$2,173			Up 10%	Up 34%
Gross margin		62.1%			59.7%			60.2%		Up 240 bps	Up 190 bps
Operating expenses	$607			$570			$498			Up 6%	Up 22%
Operating income	$1,202			$1,005			$809			Up 20%	Up 49%
Net income	$1,081			$833			$704			Up 30%	Up 54%
Diluted earnings per share	$1.72			$1.33			$1.13			Up 29%	Up 52%

Fiscal 2018 Summary

GAAP
($ in millions except earnings per share)	FY18			FY17			Y/Y
Revenue	$9,714			$6,910			Up 41%
Gross margin		59.9%			58.8%		Up 110 bps
Operating expenses	$2,612			$2,129			Up 23%
Operating income	$3,210			$1,934			Up 66%
Net income	$3,047			$1,666			Up 83%
Diluted earnings per share	$4.82			$2.57			Up 88%

 

Non-GAAP
($ in millions except earnings per share)	FY18			FY17			Y/Y
Revenue	$9,714			$6,910			Up 41%
Gross margin		60.2%			59.2%		Up 100 bps
Operating expenses	$2,227			$1,867			Up 19%
Operating income	$3,617			$2,221			Up 63%
Net income	$3,085			$1,851			Up 67%
Diluted earnings per share	$4.92			$3.06			Up 61%

NVIDIA’s outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 is as follows:

• Revenue is expected to be $2.90 billion, plus or minus two percent.
• GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 62.7 percent and 63.0 percent, respectively, plus or minus 50 basis points.
• GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $770 million and $645 million, respectively.
• GAAP and non-GAAP other income and expense are both expected to be nominal.
• GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates are both expected to be 12 percent, plus or minus one percent, excluding any discrete items. GAAP discrete items include excess tax benefits or deficiencies related to stock-based compensation, which the company expects to generate variability on a quarter by quarter basis.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2018 Highlights

During the fourth quarter, NVIDIA achieved progress in these areas:

Datacenter

• Announced that NVIDIA Tesla® V100 GPU accelerators are now available through every major computer maker and have been chosen by every major cloud to deliver AI and high performance computing.
• Added a record 34 GPU-accelerated systems to the Top500 supercomputer list, bringing the company’s total to 87.
• Announced partnerships to further AI in key vertical industries, including initiatives with GE Health and Nuance in medical imaging; Baker Hughes, a GE company, in oil and gas; and Japan’s Komatsu in construction and mining.
• Expanded the NVIDIA GPU Cloud container registry to support scientists using HPC applications, and AI researchers using desktop GPUs.

Gaming

• Announced gaming laptops using the Max-Q design, which are 3x faster and 3x thinner than previous-generation gaming laptops.
• Introduced BFGDs, big format gaming displays, providing ultra-low latency PC gaming and integrated streaming on a high-end 65-inch display using NVIDIA G-SYNC technology with NVIDIA SHIELD.
• Enhanced GeForce Experience with new tools, including NVIDIA Freestyle for customizing gameplay and an updated interface for the NVIDIA Ansel photo mode, as well as new titles includingPlayerUnknown’s Battleground and Fortnite that support NVIDIA ShadowPlay Highlights for capturing gaming achievements.
• Increased its GeForce GPU share among gamers on the Steam online gaming platform to 86 percent.
• Introduced two new collector’s edition Star Wars-themed NVIDIA TITAN Xp GPUs, tied to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Automotive

• Announced and demonstrated NVIDIA DRIVE Xavier, the world’s first autonomous machine processor, with customer availability in the first quarter.
• Announced NVIDIA DRIVE, the world’s first functionally safe AI self-driving platform, plus a suite of tools to test and validate neural networks by simulating all kind of driving conditions.
• Unveiled partnerships with Uber and Aurora to develop self-driving cars using the open NVIDIA DRIVE AI self-driving platform.
• Partnered with ZF and Baidu to create the first production AI autonomous vehicle platform for the China market, with Chery as the first customer.
• Partnered with Volkswagen to integrate AI into future VW vehicles using the NVIDIA DRIVE IX intelligent experience platform and create AI cockpits with enhanced convenience and safety features.
• Announced NVIDIA is powering the Mercedes-Benz MBUX in-car AI smart cockpit system, going into production next month with the new A-Class.
• Announced NVIDIA is partnering with Continental to build AI self-driving vehicle systems, from enhanced Level 2 to Level 5, for production in 2021.

CFO Commentary

Commentary on the quarter by Colette Kress, NVIDIA’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, is available at http://investor.nvidia.com/.

Conference Call and Webcast Information 

NVIDIA will conduct a conference call with analysts and investors to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal 2018 financial results and current financial prospects today at 2 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m. Eastern time). To listen to the conference call, dial (877) 223-3864 in the United States or (574) 990-1377 internationally, and provide the following conference ID: 6265639. A live webcast (listen-only mode) of the conference call will be accessible at NVIDIA’s investor relations website, http://investor.nvidia.com/, and at www.streetevents.com. The webcast will be recorded and available for replay until NVIDIA’s conference call to discuss its financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2019.