Deeptech and AI · Research note · 23 Sep 2026
Nvidia's bottleneck moved from GPUs to memory
Nvidia reported $96.2 billion of revenue and told investors that approximately 70% growth in fiscal 2028 is supply-constrained. Anyone budgeting AI compute for 2027 is now buying memory and power, not just GPUs.
Sent. Check your inbox.
If it is not there in a minute, look in Promotions or Updates and mark it as not spam so the next one lands in the inbox.
Every number, and where it comes from
The first five figures in the note.
The full table has 8 rows. Each figure is as published on the date shown, with its denominator.
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| $96.2B | Nvidia total revenue, quarter ended 26 Jul 2026, up 106% year on year. Next quarter guided to $108.0B, plus or minus 2%, assuming no Data Center compute revenue from China. | Nvidia Q2 FY2027 earnings release and CFO commentary, 26 Aug 2026 |
| $89.0B | Nvidia Data Center segment revenue in the same quarter, up 117% year on year. A reporting segment, not a product line. | Nvidia Q2 FY2027 earnings release, 26 Aug 2026 |
| ~70% | Expected Nvidia revenue growth in fiscal 2028, described by the CFO as a supply-constrained outlook. A company expectation, not a reported result. | Nvidia Q2 FY2027 earnings call, 26 Aug 2026 |
| $119B to $279B | Nvidia supply and capacity commitments at 26 Jul 2026 against one quarter earlier. Nvidia says the increase was primarily related to the procurement of memory. Purchase obligations spread over several years, not spend in the quarter. | Nvidia CFO commentary and Form 10-Q, Aug 2026 |
| 75.0% to 74.0% | Gross margin reported for the quarter ended 26 Jul 2026 against guidance for the next quarter. The 75.0% is GAAP as reported; the 74.0% is the non-GAAP guide, so the two are not a like-for-like series. | Nvidia Q2 FY2027 earnings release and CFO commentary, 26 Aug 2026 |
3 more figures in the PDF, each with its source.
Sources
7 primary releases.
- Nvidia, Q2 FY2027 earnings release (26 Aug 2026)Revenue $96.2B, up 106% year on year; Data Center $89.0B, up 117%; GAAP gross margin 75.0%; operating income $63.7B, the basis for the 66% operating margin calculated by the author.investor.nvidia.com
- Nvidia, CFO commentary, Q2 FY2027 (26 Aug 2026)Next-quarter revenue guidance $108.0B, plus or minus 2%, assuming no Data Center compute revenue from China; non-GAAP gross margin guided to 74.0%; supply and capacity commitments up from $119B to $279B, primarily related to the procurement of memory.investor.nvidia.com
- Nvidia, Q2 FY2027 earnings call (26 Aug 2026)Revenue expected to grow approximately 70% in fiscal 2028, described as a supply-constrained outlook.investor.nvidia.com
- Nvidia, Form 10-Q, quarter ended 26 Jul 2026 (Aug 2026)Three direct customers at 16%, 15% and 13% of first-half revenue; inventory $31.6B; first-half provisions for inventory and purchase obligations $2.1B.sec.gov
- SK hynix, 2Q26 results (29 Jul 2026)Revenue KRW 79.3T, up 257% year on year; operating profit KRW 60.5T, up 557%; operating margin 76%. Net profit excluded here because of a one-off investment gain.news.skhynix.com
- TrendForce, Server DRAM contract price forecast, 3Q26 (9 Jul 2026)Server DRAM contract prices forecast up 13 to 18% quarter on quarter in 3Q26; RDIMM bit supply up 15 to 20% year on year; server DRAM shortage anticipated for 2027.trendforce.com
- PJM Interconnection, 2028/2029 Base Residual Auction results (14 Jul 2026)Cleared at $325.00 per MW-day on an unforced capacity basis, the auction price cap, for a third auction in a row; 138,318 MW cleared; total cost $16.4B; 525 MW of new generation and uprates. Prior auctions cleared at their caps of $329.17 and $333.44.pjm.com