SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nvidia’s sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets remained a hot commodity during the company's latest quarter, but the demand wasn't quite feverish enough to ease recent worries that the AI craze may be fading.
The results announced Wednesday were hotly anticipated because Nvidia has emerged as key barometer of a two-year-old AI boom that has been propelling the stock market to new heights. The Silicon Valley chipmaker also became the first publicly traded company to achieve a $4 trillion market value.
In recent weeks, though, research reports and comments by prominent tech executives have raised investor fears that the AI mania has been overblown.
And now Nvidia’s latest numbers covering the May-July period may feed those perceptions because the sales of the company’s processors — indispensable components in the AI data centers being built around the world — aren't growing as robustly as they once were. The late 2022 release of OpenAI's ChatGPT unleashed a technological phenomenon that is starting to reshape society.
The AI chips are part of Nvidia's data center division, which posted revenue of $41.1 billion, a 56% increase from the same time last year, but below the analyst forecast of $41.3 billion, according to FactSet Research.
Even so, Nvidia's profit of $26.4 billion, or $1.08 per share, was higher than analysts predicted, as was its total revenue of $46.7 billion — also a 56% increase from the last year.
Nvidia signaled it believes more good things are still to come by forecasting revenue of $54 billion for the August-October period, slightly above what analysts had been envisioning for the quarter. “We are in the beginning of the buildout,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told analysts during a Wednesday conference call in which the company predicted another $3 trillion to $4 trillion will be spent on AI initiatives by the end of this decade.
But Nvidia's stock still slipped 3% in extended trading after the fiscal second quarter report came out, indicating the performance wasn't enough to allay investors' fears. A letdown was almost inevitable, given the stock price has increased by more than 10-fold during the past two and a half years.
“Saying the stock was priced for perfection would be an enormous understatement," said Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro.
Delivering the kind of growth to push Nvidia toward a $5 trillion market value has become more daunting as Nvidia's annual sales have ballooned from $44 billion in its fiscal 2024 to a projected $204 billion in the company's current fiscal year that ends in January. That has translated into progressively slower rates of year-over-year revenue growth. After Nvidia's revenue at least doubled or tripled from the previous year in five consecutive quarters during 2023 and 2024, the growth has been tapering off the past four quarter.
Nvidia would have fared better in the most recent quarter if President Donald Trump hadn't imposed a ban that prevented Nvidia from selling its AI chips in China during the quarter. But investors had already been forewarned the restrictions would cost the company about $8 billion in sales from May through July, so that challenge was already in reflected in Nvidia's stock price.
Trump took the China handcuffs off of Nvidia earlier this month in return for a 15% cut of the company’s sales in that country — a compromise that is expected to help boost revenue during the upcoming months although it's unclear how quickly that will happen. In the best case scenario, Nvidia may be able to bring in $2 billion to $5 billion in AI chip sales to China, according to Colette Kress, the company's chief financial officer.
While the technology industry has been the biggest beneficiary of the AI frenzy, it’s also been a boon for the overall stock market. The benchmark S&P 500 has gained 69% since the end of 2022, with AI fervor fueling much of the investor optimism.
But even amid the general euphoria, there recently have been murmurs about whether AI mania will prove to be an echo of the late 1990s dot-com boom and meltdown that plunged Silicon Valley into a funk that lasted several years.
FILE - Visitors give commands to a robot at Nvidia's booth during the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo at the China International Exhibition Center, in Beijing, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A., File)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t remember hearing boos from his home crowd during his brilliant 13-year career in Milwaukee.
It happened Tuesday midway through the Bucks’ 139-106 loss to a Minnesota Timberwolves team that was playing without Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.
“I’ve never been a part of something like that before,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “Something new for me.”
The two-time MVP responded the same way he has whenever he’s been booed on the road. After making a driving layup and drawing a foul in the opening minute of the third quarter, Antetokounmpo offered a thumbs-down gesture and booed back.
“When I get booed, I boo back,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’ve been doing it all season.”
Those boos poured down after Milwaukee trailed 76-45 at the break. Never before in franchise history had the Timberwolves built such a big halftime lead in a road game.
Antetokounmpo acknowledged the Bucks’ effort was low Tuesday. He also expanded on why the boos bothered him.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” Antetokounmpo said. “But everybody has their opinion to do what they want to do. I’m not going to tell them what to do and how they should act when we don’t play hard or win, or we lose games or we’re not where we’re supposed to be. And I don’t think anybody has the right to tell me how I should act on the basketball court after I’ve been here 13 years and I’m basically the all-time leader in everything.”
The Bucks’ latest loss came as they approach the midway point of a season that hasn’t met their expectations.
Milwaukee (17-23) is 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning the Bucks would have to rally in the second half just to reach the play-in round of the postseason. That’s a precipitous fall for a team that has made nine straight playoff appearances and won the NBA title in 2021.
The Bucks’ precarious position means they can’t afford to have performances like the one they delivered against a short-handed Minnesota team Tuesday. Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers blamed it on “dead legs” after the game, noting the Bucks had just returned from a four-game trip and are about to go back on the road for their next two contests.
“Dead legs cannot be an excuse,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have to be better.”
Antetokounmpo noted that the improvement must start with him, though he delivered 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists on Tuesday. He was asked how the Bucks could step up in the second half to put themselves back in playoff position.
“Playing hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “Playing the right way. Playing selfless basketball, which we don’t. I don’t know. I really don’t know. Those three things are important. I know that they’re important for you to win. Right now there’s so many things that we can do better. Let’s just start by, ’Can we just play harder? Can we just play the right way? Can we create advantages for the next player? Can we just play for our teammate, play for the team, play for ourselves?' Let’s start with that, and I think everything will follow.”
Antetokounmpo has offered similar messages after other losses this season, but the Bucks still haven’t put it all together. They haven’t won more than two straight games at any point this season.
“Maybe we are not connected as much as we should,” Antetokounmpo said. “Maybe my voice is just a broken record and guys are just tired and guys might tend to do what they want to do. I don’t know. But as a leader, it doesn’t matter. Being a leader is the same thing as being a dad. You have to keep on being available, being consistent with your words and your actions over and over and over again. One day you hope the message is going to go through.”
In the meantime, Antetokounmpo says he will keep responding to boos the same way, no matter who’s doing the jeering.
“I thrive through adversity,” Antetokounmpo said. “I thrive when people don’t believe in me. Doesn’t matter if I’m on the road, if I’m at home, if I’m at my family dinner, if I’m at a practice facility against my teammate.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo shoots between Minnesota Timberwolves' Julius Randle and Naz Reid during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts aftetr being fouled during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
