NVIDIA posts fourth quarter loss of $147.7 million

GPU maker NVIDIA announced disappointing fourth quarter financial results. The company announced a net loss of $147.7 million, or 27 cents per share, on a revenue of $481.1 million. Sales were down 60 percent year-over-year from $1.2 billion, when the company posted a profit of $257 million. Excluding charges and one-time items, NVIDIA posted a net loss of 18 cents per share, while Wall Street analysts were expecting a loss of 12 cents per share on a revenue of $587 million.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, revenue was $481.1 million compared to $1.2 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, a decrease of 60 percent. For the twelve months ended January 25, 2009, revenue was $3.4 billion compared to $4.1 billion for the twelve months ended January 27, 2008, a decrease of 16 percent.

NVIDIA's results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), included a net loss of $147.7 million, or $0.27 per share. Non-GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, which excludes stock-based compensation charges, a benefit from insurance proceeds received, a non-recurring charge against operating expenses related to termination of a development agreement, a restructuring credit against operating expenses, and the associated tax impact of these items, was $94.4 million, or $0.18 per share.

GAAP net loss for the twelve months ended January 25, 2009 was $30.0 million, or $0.05 per share, compared to net income of $797.6 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, for the twelve months ended January 27, 2008. Non-GAAP net income for the twelve months ended January 25, 2009, which excludes stock-based compensation charges, a non-recurring charge against cost of revenue related to a royalty dispute, a non-recurring warranty charge against cost of revenue, a benefit from insurance proceeds received, a non-recurring charge against operating expenses related to termination of a development agreement, a restructuring charge against operating expenses, and the associated tax impact of these items, was $303.3 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, compared to $919.3 million, or $1.56 per diluted share, for the twelve months ended January 27, 2008.

"The environment is clearly difficult and uncertain. Our first priority is to set an operating expense level that balances cash conservation while allowing us to continue to invest in initiatives that are of great importance to the market and in which we believe we have industry leadership. We have initiatives in all areas to reduce operating expenses," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. "Although fiscal 2009 was extremely difficult, it was one of our best years of innovation. We made many important advances in graphics processing with PhysX and 3D Vision, GPU computing with CUDA and Tesla, and mobile computing with ION and Tegra. I am pleased with the excellent achievements we made in each of these important areas."