By Noel Randewich
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Nvidia Corp (O:NVDA) on Wednesday posted higher quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations, sending its shares higher as the graphics chipmaker sought to sharpen its focus on high-end automobiles.
Nvidia is trying to expand its graphics technology beyond the sluggish personal computer industry with its Tegra line of chips for mobile devices and increasingly for cars.
For the current first quarter, Nvidia expects revenue of $1.16 billion, plus or minus 2 percent. That forecast is better than analysts' expectations of first-quarter revenue of $1.15 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
In the fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 25, revenue from Tegra chips fell 15 percent to $112 million. The much larger PC graphics chip business expanded by 13 percent to $1.07 billion.
Last month, the company unveiled a new chip, the Tegra X1, aimed at powering high-end graphics on car dashboards as well as sophisticated auto-pilot systems.
Nvidia is also pushing into data centers, with graphics server platforms and a partnership with IBM (N:IBM) aimed at corporate customers.
The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.25 billion, up 9 percent from a year ago. Analysts, on average, expected $1.203 billion.
The quarterly revenue was its highest ever and for the first time exceeded the quarterly revenue of rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc (O:AMD). In the December quarter of last year, AMD had revenue of $1.239 billion.
Net income rose to $193 million, or 35 cents a share, from $147 million, or 25 cents a share, a year ago.
Non-GAAP earnings per share were 43 cents, while analysts expected 29 cents.
Shares of Nvidia rose 5.33 percent in extended trade after closing down 0.7 percent at $20.81 on Nasdaq.