Nvidia (NVDA) Operating Income History: Quarterly Data (2020–2026)

Nvidia Operating Income: 2020–2026

Nvidia (NVDA) generated $44.3 billion in operating income in fiscal Q4 FY2027 (ending January 2026), a 65% operating margin on $68.1 billion in revenue. For calendar year 2025, operating income totaled approximately $110.1 billion — a 58.8% operating margin. This scale of profitability is unusual in the history of large-cap technology hardware companies.

Nvidia Annual Operating Income by Year

Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL.

The Operating Leverage Story

Nvidia’s operating income trajectory illustrates exceptional operating leverage — the ability to grow operating income faster than revenue. From 2021 to 2024:

• Revenue grew approximately 4.7x (from $24.3B to $113.3B)
• Operating income grew approximately 8.3x (from $8.6B to $71.0B)

This is because operating expenses (R&D and G&A) grew more slowly than revenue during the AI boom. Nvidia added headcount and R&D spending, but not proportionally to its explosive revenue growth. The result: operating margin nearly doubled from 35% (2021) to 63% (2024).

The 2022 Trough: $499M in Q3

Operating income hit its lowest point in this dataset at $499 million in Q3 2022 — a 73% sequential decline from $1.9 billion the prior quarter. The 8.4% operating margin was the thinnest Nvidia had seen in years. This was the direct result of:

1. The gaming inventory write-down reducing gross profit
2. R&D spending holding relatively steady (Nvidia continued investing in AI chip development even during the downturn)
3. Higher operating expenses from headcount growth

The contrast with Q3 2023 (just four quarters later) — when operating income hit $6.8 billion at 50.3% margins — demonstrates how rapidly the AI-driven recovery reversed the 2022 compression.

Q4 2022 to Q3 2023: The fastest operating income recovery in semiconductor history

In six quarters, Nvidia’s operating income went from $499M (Q3 2022) to $10.4B (Q4 2023) — a 20x increase. No other semiconductor company has achieved such a rapid recovery and re-rating of its operating model. Compare the trajectory to AMD’s operating income trend during the same period.

Key Takeaways

• Operating income grew from $651M (2020 Q3) to $44.3B (2026 Q1) — approximately 68x
• The 2022 Q3 trough of $499M represented an 8.4% operating margin — the cycle low
• AI demand drove operating margins to 62.7% in calendar 2024 — exceptional for a hardware company
• Operating leverage was extreme: revenue grew 4.7x from 2021–2024, while operating income grew 8.3x