Nvidia’s Global Expansion and Blackwell Deployment Accelerate Amid Record $81.6 Billion Quarter

Nvidia's Blackwell AI systems enter cloud production via $1.6B Dell deal, expands Israel R&D with new lease, and reports record Q1 revenue of $81.6B.

The move from plan to production is gathering pace at Nvidia. After a blockbuster first quarter that smashed expectations, the company is pushing its Blackwell architecture into live cloud environments while simultaneously scaling its physical footprint in Israel. Together, the moves crystallise a single message: the AI infrastructure buildout is no longer theoretical.

Blackwell Systems Land at Dell’s Texas Facility

IREN, the data centre operator, has placed a $1.6 billion order with Dell for air-cooled Blackwell systems. The equipment is destined for IREN’s Childress, Texas site, with service activation targeted for early 2027. The purchase builds on a strategic agreement signed with Nvidia on 7 May, under which IREN will provide managed GPU cloud services for the chipmaker’s internal AI and research workloads over five years. That contract is valued at roughly $3.4 billion.

The Dell deal does not represent a fresh Nvidia sale, but it does convert a cloud-service framework into tangible hardware deployment. The package includes GPUs, servers, storage, networking gear, integration and warranties, with payments made after shipment. For Nvidia, the important signal is that Blackwell systems are now being assigned to a specific, contract-backed cloud project.

The partnership also carries an equity component. Nvidia has secured the right to purchase up to 30 million IREN shares at $70 each, a potential investment of $2.1 billion. Longer term, the two companies aim to support up to 5 gigawatts of DSX?near AI infrastructure, feeding more customers into Nvidia’s accelerated computing ecosystem.

Israeli Footprint Expanded with Decade-Long Lease

While the Blackwell pipeline takes shape, Nvidia is deepening its presence in the Middle East. The company has signed a ten-year lease for an 11?storey building in the Ofer Park complex in Yokneam, Israel. The 29,000?square?metre property is expected to break ground in 2026 and reach completion by 2028. The lease is valued at approximately 230 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS).

Once the new building is occupied, Nvidia’s total leased space in Ofer Park will reach 67,000 square metres. That is in addition to a planned 160,000?square?metre headquarters in Kiryat Tivon and existing offices in Tel Aviv and Beersheva, the latter inherited through the 2019 acquisition of Mellanox. The expansion underscores Nvidia’s commitment to Israel as a key research and development hub.

Record Quarter Lifts Analyst Targets

The capital spending comes on the back of a stellar earnings print. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Nvidia reported revenue of $81.6 billion, an 85% jump from a year earlier and well above the $79.2 billion consensus. Earnings per share came in at $1.87, topping the $1.76 estimate.

The data centre division, the engine room of the investment case, generated $75.2 billion in revenue, up 92% year-on-year. Within that, compute accounted for $60.4 billion and networking added $14.8 billion — a reminder that the infrastructure surrounding the GPUs is expanding almost as fast as the chips themselves.

Nvidia is also restructuring its reporting segments. Going forward it will split data centre into Hyperscale and ACIE — the latter covering AI clouds, industry and enterprise. IREN’s cloud service falls squarely into the ACIE bucket, giving investors a clearer line of sight into the growth coming from such partnerships.

Analysts have responded with higher price targets. Stifel raised its target to $282 per share, Mizuho to $300, and the broader consensus now sits around $304 — implying roughly 43% upside from the current level of about €185. The stock trades about 8% below its 52?week high of €201, but has still gained nearly 55% over the past twelve months.

Dividends, Buybacks and the Road Ahead

Shareholders are also being rewarded directly. Nvidia boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share and authorised an $80 billion share repurchase programme. For the second quarter of fiscal 2027, management guided for revenue of $91.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, a figure that excludes any data centre compute sales from China.

IREN, meanwhile, expects its annualised revenue rate to climb from $3.7 billion to $4.4 billion once the Blackwell systems go live, although that target combines several contracts — including one with Microsoft — and is not fully guaranteed. The operational risk now centres on execution: supply chains, the Blackwell ramp and the speed at which partners like IREN bring capacity online. Every new milestone will be scrutinised as the narrative shifts from announcement to delivery.