Nvidia Q1 revenue and profit down, Q2 outlook beats estimates

Nvidia on Friday reported revenue of $924.9 million for the company's first quarter of fiscal 2013 ended April 29, 2012, down from $962 million a year ago but still topping average analyst estimates of $916.2 million. Net profits took the biggest hit with a 55% drop to $60.4 million, compared with a year-earlier $135.23 million. Despite this the graphics’ firm optimist outlook for the quarter ahead sent its shares up more than 9%.

The company said that profitability and revenue were hurt by the low production levels of its new Kepler-based 28nm GPUs that launched in March. Nvidia President and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang explained that the company and its foundry partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), underestimated demand for the new product and as a result were simply unable to fulfill all orders.

Those who’ve been in the market for a high-end graphics card recently will have noticed that their flagship GTX 680 is extremely difficult to find in stock. Huang predicted inventory will ramp up over the coming quarters, but warned that supplies are still too low to fully meet demands. Luckily, for now at least, the recently launched and better overall value GTX 670 is available from stores like Newegg, Amazon and others.

Huang also touted a record quarter for notebook GPUs and said Tegra is on a growth track again, driven by several mobile design wins and the upcoming Windows on ARM launch later this year.

Looking ahead, Nvidia forecasts revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 to be between $990 and $1.05 billion, which is ahead of Wall Street's view of $976.2 million.