What Nvidia's Blockbuster Quarter Tells Us About the State of the Stock Market and Artificial Intelligence Trade

2026-03-04 11:00:00 ET

After investors anxiously waited last week for artificial intelligence giant Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) to deliver its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter report, the company provided them with better-than-expected results and issued better-than-expected guidance for its current quarter. Furthermore, its gross margin guidance was solid.

Yet the stock fell by nearly 5.5% on Feb. 26, the day after the report. Here's what Nvidia's blockbuster quarter and Wall Street's response to it tells us about the state of the stock market and artificial intelligence trade.

Nvidia reported $1.62 adjusted earnings per share on $68.1 billion of revenue, handily beating the earnings of $1.53 per share on $66.2 billion in revenue that Wall Street analysts expected. Furthermore, management guided for revenue of roughly $78 billion in the current quarter. The consensus analyst estimates had only projected $72.6 billion. Moreover, that guidance figure does not factor in any assumptions of revenue from selling chips in China.

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