The Dynamics of Inventories, Demand, Friendships, and Risk

Last week, Nvidia released its earnings report for Q1 2026 [or Q1 of Fiscal Year 2027 for Nvidia]. And yet again, in a fourteenth straight strike since Q1 2023, Nvidia Beat and Raised with a strong quarter and, most importantly, a clean Balance Sheet.

Just for context, Cisco had 14 consecutive quarters of “Beat and Raise” before missing by a penny the quarter after, in February 2001, almost one year after the Nasdaq peaked in March 2000.

Bulls used this opportunity to mock Bears who doubt Nvidia, the demand, and Nvidia’s ability to keep delivering. And yes, Nvidia does a very hard job sustaining the Beat and Raise Machine. With all the tools and levers they have, there is no option to miss, not for now. And most importantly, as a veteran dot-com player, Jensen made sure that Bears would have a hard time finding red flags in Nvidia’s Balance Sheet. As it is very clean. And that’s not a coincidence. As I discussed numerous times, Jensen has made sure to outsource all the risks associated with continuing the Beat and Raise.

and in this article I will focus on Inventories, on Blackwell GPUs.