European equities were trading in negative territory in early Thursday sessions as market participants absorbed results from artificial intelligence chip leader Nvidia and kept watch on hopes for a resolution to the Iran war.
By 03:06 ET (07:06 GMT), the pan-European Stoxx 600 had slipped by 0.2%. Germany's Dax was down 0.2%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 had fallen 0.4%, and France's CAC 40 was largely unchanged.
Nvidia reported record revenue and profit for the April quarter, citing robust demand for high-end data center systems and continued expansion of so-called AI agents. Quarterly sales rose 85% from a year earlier to $81.6 billion, outpacing analyst expectations. Net income came in at $58.3 billion, more than three times the prior year's figure and well above Wall Street forecasts.
Company CEO Jensen Huang described the emergence of the "era of agentic AI," saying the shift toward models capable of independently executing tasks on behalf of users has contributed to what he called parabolic demand.
Despite the outsized revenue and profit figures, Nvidia's shares edged down marginally in extended-hours trading. Analysts cited in news reports pointed to elements of the company's outlook that they viewed as constrained - specifically that the guidance did not include sales in China and that the forward-looking figures were only slightly ahead of estimates. Given the typically lofty market expectations that have become attached to Nvidia, some analysts have suggested that even results that beat forecasts may not fully satisfy investors.
Investors continued to monitor geopolitical developments tied to hopes for a resolution to the Iran war, a factor that remained part of broader market sentiment alongside corporate earnings. Market participants were weighing the implications of Nvidia's results for technology and data center demand even as attention to geopolitical signals persisted.
Context note - The market reactions and company statements described above reflect the information released with Nvidia's quarterly results and the concurrent market environment; no additional material has been introduced.