Fourth Straight Beat, Fourth Straight Selloff: Nvidia's Pattern Persists as Focus Shifts to Vera Rubin and $91B Guidance

Nvidia Q1 revenue surged 85% to $81.6B, but stock fell 1.9% on profit-taking. Analysts remain bullish; CEO unveils Vera Rubin AI platform. Dividend quadrupled.

Nvidia delivered another quarter of eye-popping numbers, and once again the stock took a hit. The pattern is now four-for-four: each time the chip giant reports record results, investors sell into the strength. On Friday, shares closed 1.9% lower in US trading, settling at €185.46 in euro terms — roughly 8% below the 52-week high set on May 14. The selloff fits a narrative of profit-taking after a blistering run, but the underlying numbers tell a different story.

Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 soared 85% to $81.62 billion, powered by a 92% surge in the data-center business to $75.2 billion. Earnings per share came in at $1.87, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76. Free cash flow hit a record $48.6 billion, while the networking segment nearly tripled, jumping 199% to $14.8 billion. For any other company, such metrics would spark a rally. For Nvidia, the bar was simply too high.

Management is doing its part to keep shareholders onside. The board approved a fresh $80 billion share-buyback program and quadrupled the quarterly dividend — well, more than quadrupled: it jumps to $0.25 per share, a 25-fold increase from the prior level. The ex-dividend date is June 4. And for the current quarter, Nvidia guided even higher: it now expects revenue of roughly $91 billion, well ahead of analyst forecasts.

The longer-term story, however, centers on the next platform. CEO Jensen Huang used the earnings call to declare the era of "Agentic AI" — systems that can think and act independently. Nvidia's answer is the Vera Rubin architecture, which integrates GPUs and CPUs into a single platform. Mass production is slated for the second half of 2026, with first shipments in the third quarter. Huang described the ramp as one of the biggest production waves in computing history, involving 100 to 150 partners. The addressable market for CPUs alone, Nvidia estimates, is around $200 billion.

Analysts remain overwhelmingly bullish. Thirteen of the top fourteen investment banks recommend the stock as a buy. Goldman Sachs has a price target of $250, while HSBC is more aggressive at $325. William Blair points to the continued strength in hardware spending from big tech as a tailwind. Technically, the stock's momentum has cooled: the RSI now sits at 40.5, signaling a market that is no longer overheated.

A raft of near-term catalysts could reignite interest. Huang landed in Taiwan on Sunday for talks with TSMC chairman CC Wei and to plan a new Nvidia headquarters in Taipei. He is scheduled to deliver a keynote at the Computex trade show on June 1. The company will also present at the TD Cowen technology conference on May 28 and the BofA Global Technology Conference on June 4. Around the same time, US PCE inflation data is due Thursday — a macro signal that could move the entire tech sector, and Nvidia in particular, just ahead of its ex-dividend date. Options markets are pricing in a roughly 4% swing for the coming week.