NVIDIA fourth quarter revenue up 9 percent to a record $1.25 billion

NVIDIA's fiscal Q4 2015 and fiscal 2015 financial results just rolled in. The company is proud to announce that in terms of revenue, it had not only a record quarter but also a record year! Fourth quarter revenue was up 9 percent from a year earlier to $1.25 billion, while full-year revenue soared 13 percent versus the year before, to a total of $4.68 billion.

Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, earnings rose 29 percent year-over-year to $241 million. With revenue of $1.25 billion and a profit of 43 cents per share, NVIDIA wildly beat Wall Street analyst's estimates of earnings of 29 cents a share on revenue of $1.2 billion.

For the current quarter, NVIDIA expects revenue to hit $1.16 billion, plus or minus two percent, which would be about 5.5 percent more than the same period a year ago. The firm also declared a dividend of $0.085 per share, the same amount it declared in the previous five quarters. NVIDIA shares are up 3.7% in after-hours trading to $21.58.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today reported record revenue for the fourth quarter ended January 25, 2015, of $1.25 billion, up 9 percent from $1.14 billion a year earlier and up 2 percent from $1.23 billion the previous quarter.

Revenue for fiscal 2015 was a record $4.68 billion, up 13 percent from $4.13 billion a year earlier.

GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $0.35, up 40 percent from $0.25 a year earlier and up 13 percent from $0.31 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.43, up 34 percent from $0.32 a year earlier and up 10 percent from $0.39 in the previous quarter.

GAAP earnings per diluted share for fiscal 2015 were $1.12, up 51 percent from $0.74 a year earlier. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $1.42, up 43 percent from $0.99 a year earlier.

"Momentum is accelerating in each of our market-specialized platforms, driving record revenue in the quarter and full year," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of NVIDIA.

"GeForce and SHIELD are extending our reach in the rapidly growing global gaming market. Our DRIVE auto-computing platform is at the center of the advance toward self-driving cars. GRID is enabling enterprises to finally virtualize graphics-intensive applications. And our Tesla accelerated computing platform is helping to ignite the deep learning revolution.

"The success of these platforms highlights the growing importance of visual computing and the opportunities ahead for NVIDIA," he said.

During the fourth quarter, NVIDIA paid $46 million in cash dividends and repurchased 0.2 million shares. During fiscal 2015, the company paid $186 million in cash dividends and repurchased 44.4 million shares for $814 million. As a result, the company returned to shareholders $1.0 billion in fiscal 2015.

Since the restart of its capital return program in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, NVIDIA has returned approximately $2.22 billion to shareholders. This return represents 111 percent of the company's cumulative free cash flow for fiscal years 2013 through 2015, reflecting the acceleration of the capital return program from cash generated in previous years.

The company intends to return approximately $600 million to shareholders through ongoing quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases in fiscal 2016.

NVIDIA will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.085 per share on March 19, 2015, to all shareholders of record on February 26, 2015. NVIDIA expects that a portion of this dividend payment may be considered a return of capital for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Highlights:

Record revenue in Q4 of $1.25 billion, up 9 percent from $1.14 billion a year earlier.

GAAP diluted EPS in Q4 of $0.35, up 40 percent from $0.25 a year earlier. Non-GAAP diluted EPS in Q4 of $0.43, up 34 percent from $0.32 a year earlier.

Record revenue in fiscal 2015 of $4.68 billion, up 13 percent from $4.13 billion a year earlier.

GAAP diluted EPS in fiscal 2015 of $1.12, up 51 percent from $0.74 a year earlier. Non-GAAP diluted EPS in fiscal 2015 of $1.42, up 43 percent from $0.99 a year earlier.

NVIDIA's outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 is as follows:

Revenue is expected to be $1.16 billion, plus or minus two percent.

GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 56.2 percent and 56.5 percent, respectively, plus or minus 50 basis points.

GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $478 million; non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $425 million, inclusive of litigation costs.

GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 are expected to be 20 percent, plus or minus one percent -- excluding the benefit of the U.S. Federal R&D tax credit which expired December 31, 2014.

Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $30 million to $40 million.