Inside Nvidia: AI drives record data center revenues, while gaming recovers
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Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) strong first-quarter results and guidance shocked many on Wall Street, but a deeper look shows the company is being aided by nearly all of its segments.
The most prominent contribution came from the firm's data center business, fueled by increased demand for AI technology. Meanwhile, gaming, once the semiconductor firm's biggest segment, has steadily recovered in recent quarters after a crash in last year's second quarter.
Here is a breakdown of NVDA's revenue by segment:

Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia's (NVDA) robust first-quarter results were led by strength in its data center revenue, which rose 14% year-over-year to a record $4.28B. The segment, which also rose 18% sequentially, was aided in part by the company's products for artificial intelligence, in particular generative AI.
"Generative AI drove significant upside in demand for our products, creating opportunities and broad-based global growth across our markets," CFO Colette Kress said on the earnings call.
Since the first quarter of fiscal 2021, Nvidia's data center revenue has risen nearly every quarter, even amid last year's semiconductor correction.
Meanwhile, Nvidia (NVDA) has also seen a rebound in its second largest unit, gaming, which accounted for $2.24B in sales during the period. This was down 38% from a year-ago, but up 22% sequentially.
On the call, Kress said sequential growth was driven by sales of the 40 Series GeForce RTX GPUs for both notebooks and desktops, characterizing end demand as "solid" and "consistent with seasonality" despite the uncertain economic background.
Gaming-related revenue reached an all-time high last year in the first quarter of $3.62B, but sales had fallen to $1.83B by the company's fiscal fourth quarter. 
Revenue attributed to Professional Visualization also saw a sequential uptick, up 31% to $295M. However, Kress added that the 53% year-over-year decline is the result of the company still working through inventory corrections in the segment.
Automotive revenue was also a record, up 114% year-over-year to $296M, which Kress attributed to the ramp of the company's DRIVE Orin product across a "number of new energy vehicles."
Sequential growth rose just 1%, however, which Kress said was due to the fact that some new energy vehicle customers in China had adjusted their production schedules due to slower demand.
Analysts are largely cautious on Nvidia (NVDA). It has a HOLD rating from Seeking Alpha authors, while Wall Street analysts rate it a BUY. Conversely, Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently beats the market, rates NVDA a HOLD.
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