Nvidia Shares Up 13% On Strong Earnings, Sales Beat

Shares of Nvidia Corp. skyrocketed late Thursday after the chip maker reported fiscal third-quarter 2017 earnings well above expectations and raised its dividend. Nvidia said it earned $542 million, or 83 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter, from $246 million, or 44 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, the company said it earned $570 million, or 94 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $255 million, or 46 cents a share, a year ago. Sales rose to $2 billion, 54% higher than the $1.3 billion it reported a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $1.69 billion in the quarter. Nvidia raised its dividend by 22% to 14 cents a share, from 11.5 cents a share, to be paid on Dec. 19 to shareholders of record Nov. 28.