Nvidia earnings preview: Blackwell delay should not impact near-term results

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA ), a key player in the AI boom of the past two years, is set to report its second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2025 next week. Among other things, investors will largely be on the lookout for any updates from management regarding possible delays in the launch of the next-generation Blackwell (BW) chip.

Supply chain checks suggest performance challenges, leading to a chip respin with the Blackwell tile and causing a one-quarter delay, however, this "is not expected to have any impact to near-term results and guidance,” according to KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts.

“We believe modest expectations for Blackwell shipments in FQ3 have been backfilled with higher Hopper bookings,” they added.

KeyBanc’s team expects Nvidia to report strong beat-and-raise results, driven by robust demand for Hopper GPUs.

Due to the Blackwell delay, the chipmaker is expected to focus on ramping up the B200 for hyperscalers, effectively canceling the B100, which will be replaced by a lower-cost, performance-optimized B200A GPU aimed at enterprise customers.

While the GB200 ramp has been affected, modest shipments of NVL36/72 are still expected in the fourth fiscal quarter. Despite the delay, the analysts maintain their FY26 revenue and EPS estimates of $222 billion and $5.16, respectively, versus consensus of $168 billion and $3.79.

They believe the risk-reward profile for Nvidia stock is favorable at current valuations.

Analysts at Raymond James shared similar remarks ahead of Nvidia’s earnings. They anticipate another strong print from the AI darling despite the noise surrounding Blackwell delays.

“Recent commentary from hyperscale customers and results from supply chain partners point to continued strength in AI infrastructure builds,” they commented.

“We have modeled a modest contribution from Blackwell in FQ3 and expect any delays to drive upside to Hopper GPUs in the short term, which could actually benefit gross margins.”

Furthermore, Raymond James highlights the Spectrum-X Ethernet switch as a crucial near-term revenue driver for Nvidia, largely independent of the Blackwell ramp.
While a prolonged delay could heighten the risk of customers pausing their spending, the analysts remain confident in Nvidia’s execution capabilities.

They stay optimistic that B100/B200 boards will ship this year, followed by GB200 NVL rack systems in the first half of 2025.

Lastly, Citi analysts forecast a fresh 52-week high for Nvidia stock after the report, driven by expectations of higher consensus estimates for the June and October quarters, and reassuring Blackwell comments from Nvidia’s management.

Source: Investing.com