Nvidia Sees Sales Down 5%, Shares Rally 12.5% After Hours

On a conference call with analysts following a better-than-expected Q3 report, graphics chip maker Nvidia (NVDA) this evening forecast sales for its fourth quarter to decline by about 5%, with “a wide range,” signaling the difficulty of predicting holiday-quarter sales. That would be roughly $852 million. The company said gross profit margin will remain about the same as last quarter, at 41%, and operating margin will also be about the same, with roughly $310 million in operating expenses. The company sees an improvement in “Other” income, and a tax rate of 13%. “The revenue line is the most difficult to forecast,” said Marvin Burkett, the company’s CFO. He added, “I also believe it is unrealistic to expect any sort of robust Christmas spending on the part of the consumer.” On the call, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang ticked off recent accomplishments, telling analysts that with the company’s 9400M integrated graphics chip, developed in ... (link)