Nvidia posts first $1B quarter

Being the current king of the graphics processor court has been paying dividends for Nvidia. In August, the chipmaker reported second-quarter revenues of $935.3 million, with net income more than doubling year over year to $172.7 million. Today, Nvidia announced it had eclipsed those figures for the third quarter, a record $1.12 billion in sales, up 36 percent from its $820.6 million haul this time last year. Nvidia claims to be the first GPU maker to top the $1 billion milestone in a single quarter.

"We are very proud to have achieved our first billion dollar quarter. And, while it is a wonderful milestone to reach, we believe this is just the beginning," noted Nvidia president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. "Our core businesses are continuing to grow as the GPU becomes increasingly central to today's computing experience in both the consumer and professional market segments."

Net income for the quarter reached similarly record levels, totaling $235.7 million for the quarter ended October 28--an uptick of 121 percent year over year--translating to $0.38 per diluted share. Year to date, the chipmaker has generated revenue of $2.90 billion, up from $2.19 billion year over year, with net income nearly doubling so far to $540.7 million, up from $285.3 million.

The future remains rosy for Nvidia. The chipmaker recently released its slimline GeForce 8800 GT graphics card, which received high marks in GameSpot's recent hands-on with the card. The company also manufactures the RSX GPU used in the PlayStation 3, which recently went on sale at its lowest price yet.