AI Nvidia Earnings Scorecard: AI Demand Is Booming, But Risks Remain By Paulo Carvão ,
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Paulo Carvão is a Senior Fellow at Harvard Follow Author Aug 28, 2026, 12:54am EDT --:-- / --:-- This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . Summary Nvidia's Q2 earnings confirmed robust AI demand, with revenue soaring 106% year-over-year to $96.2 billion, largely driven by its data center business. CEO Jensen Huang provided strong forward guidance, forecasting 70% data-center revenue growth for fiscal 2028, indicating demand far exceeds supply. While the new Vera Rubin platform is experiencing the fastest product ramp, profit margins are expected to dip due to memory shortages. Concerns remain regarding high customer concentration, with five clients comprising 70% of receivables, and Nvidia's significant direct financial exposure to AI infrastructure buildouts. To mitigate this, Nvidia partnered with major financial institutions to mobilize over $500 billion in third-party capital for customers, aiming to diversify risk.
Nvidia's earnings validate strong AI demand, but financing and concentration still require scrutiny. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images In the days leading to Nvidia’s second-quarter earnings announcement, the market yearned for reassurance that AI demand remained strong. The results came in. Demand for semiconductor chips far exceeded supply, sending a strong message to anxious investors. Breaking with tradition , the company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, who previously refrained from commenting about future demand, provided strong forward guidance for data-center revenue, predicting 70% growth in the 2028 fiscal year (which oddly starts in late January 2027). This is nothing short of spectacular for a company of its size.
This confirms that the AI boom is not short of demand, at least in the next several months. The company reported $96.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, an increase of 106% year over year, of which $89 billion came from its data-center business. Nvidia’s performance calmed near-term concerns about a demand deceleration, but signs of fragility still exist.
Before the earnings release , I proposed a scorecard covering four tests: data-center demand vitality, quality of execution during the product platform transition to Vera Rubin, the degree of customer concentration and the nature of the ecosystem financing.
Product demand accelerated in Nvidia's two largest customer segments. Hyperscale customers, according to the company's quarterly 10-Q filing , purchased $48.7 billion, up 13% since last quarter. AI clouds, industrial customers and enterprises (ACIE) revenue increased 25% quarter-to-quarter and 138% since last year, totaling $40.3 billion. The faster growth in ACIE purchases confirms that acceleration is increasing outside the hyperscale customers. These are the large cloud providers that support the AI frontier labs such as Anthropic and OpenAI. Together, hyperscale customers and ACIE make up the data center client segment.
During the earnings call , chief financial officer Colette Kress called the 70% revenue growth forecast for fiscal 2028 “a supply-constrained outlook.” Huang confirmed in an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer that demand is “super strong” and accelerating. The main criticism in an otherwise stellar financial repo…