Nvidia increases share buyback approval by $150B as AI revenue machine keeps printing cash

Nvidia’s board just handed shareholders a very expensive valentine. The company approved an additional $80 billion in share repurchase authorization, pushing its total buyback capacity to approximately $118.5 billion. The announcement landed alongside Nvidia’s fiscal first-quarter 2027 earnings, which showed the AI chip titan pulling in $81.6 billion in revenue for the quarter ended April 26, 2026. That’s an 85% jump year-over-year. The numbers behind the confidence Data Center revenue surged 92% year-over-year to $75.2 billion. That single business line now accounts for the vast majority of Nvidia’s total sales. Free cash flow came in at $48.6 billion for the quarter. Nvidia returned roughly $20 billion of that to shareholders through buybacks and dividends, and management has signaled plans to send about 50% of annual free cash flow back to investors over the course of the year. The buyback authorization, approved on May 18, 2026, carries no expiration date. As of the end of the quarter, Nvidia had roughly $38.5 billion remaining under previous repurchase authorizations. The new $80 billion approval stacks on top of that, creating the $118.5 billion total war chest. Subsequent qu...