NVIDIA posts fourth quarter gain of $171.1 million

Here's NVIDIA's PR:
-- Revenue increased 5.0 percent to $886.4 million from the third quarter.
-- We believe some analyst estimates may have recorded the Intel settlement as revenue, rather than as a credit to operating expenses, artificially raising revenue consensus.
-- GAAP net income grew to $171.7 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, from the third quarter's $84.9 million, or $0.15 per diluted share.
-- GAAP gross margin increased to a record 48.1 percent from the third quarter's 46.5 percent.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today reported revenue of $886.4 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 ended Jan. 30, 2011, up 5.0 percent from the prior quarter and down 9.8 percent from $982.5 million from the same period a year earlier.

On a GAAP basis, the company recorded net income of $171.7 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, compared with $84.9 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the previous quarter and GAAP net income of $131.1 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the same period a year earlier. GAAP gross margin was a record 48.1 percent compared with 46.5 percent in the previous quarter and 44.7 percent in the same period a year earlier.

The company's fourth quarter results include a $57.0 million credit to operating expenses, $37.1 million after tax, as a result of a legal settlement in connection with a new licensing agreement entered into with Intel.

"These strong results underscore the larger story of NVIDIA's transformation," said Jen-Hsun Huang, NVIDIA president and chief executive officer. "Even as we are extending our leadership in visual computing, our investment in mobile computing and parallel computing is now driving our growth.

"Tegra is positioned center stage in the revolution in super phones and tablets, while Tesla is becoming an essential processor for supercomputing. I have never been more excited about NVIDIA's prospects."

Outlook
The outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 is as follows:
-- Revenue is expected to be up 6 to 8 percent from the fourth quarter.
-- GAAP gross margin is expected to be 48.5 to 49.5 percent.
-- GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $327 million.
-- GAAP tax rate is expected to be 16 to 18 percent.
At press time, NVIDIA's (NVDA) shares are down 2.27 percent to $22.85.