NVIDIA stock hovered near $200.75 on August 3, with the chip giant now worth roughly $4.90 trillion. The company is caught between blazing revenue growth and fresh questions about whether it's getting too close to funding its own customers' purchases.
The Wall Street Journal reported that NVIDIA discussed a potential $250 billion guarantee tied to an OpenAI data-center project in Ohio. The deal would help cover construction and leasing costs, with talks possibly extending to equipment purchases for the AI infrastructure boom. No final arrangement has been signed yet, but the mere possibility rattled traders on July 27 as they weighed the credit and execution risks of having the chip maker bankroll its own buyers.
The timing is tricky. NVIDIA just posted fiscal Q1 revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% year-over-year, with Data Center pulling in $75.2 billion of that. Those numbers reflect real momentum. Operating cash flow hit $50.3 billion for the quarter, giving the company dry powder to spend. And it did, buying back $20.2 billion worth of shares while greenlighting another $80 billion in repurchases.
Gross margins stayed fat at 74.9%, earnings per share reached $2.39, and NVIDIA held $50.3 billion in cash and liquid securities. The Data Center segment now accounts for 92% of revenue, almost entirely riding the bet on Blackwell chips and AI infrastructure demand staying red hot.
The financing guarantee question isn't academic. If NVIDIA underwrites projects that stumble if customers can't fill those data centers, if lease rates crater, if projects drag on the company faces customer credit losses and balance-sheet strain. For a stock priced on perfection and growth, that's a new variable to puzzle over.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
