NVIDIA Hands Over Nearly $100 Billion To Shareholders

Core Insights - NVIDIA (NVDA) has returned a total of $96 billion to its investors over the past ten years through dividends and buybacks, ranking as the 19th highest contributor to shareholder returns in history [2][3] Shareholder Returns - The direct returns to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases reflect management's confidence in the company's financial stability and cash flow generation capabilities [3] - The total capital returned to shareholders as a percentage of current market capitalization is inversely related to growth potential for reinvestments, with companies like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) showing faster growth but returning a smaller proportion of their market valuation [5] Financial Performance - NVIDIA's revenue growth stands at 65.2% for the last twelve months (LTM) and an average of 91.6% over the last three years [9] - The company has a free cash flow margin of nearly 41.3% and an operating margin of 58.8% for LTM [9] - The lowest annual revenue growth for NVIDIA in the last three years was 57.1% [9] - NVIDIA's stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 45.9 [9] Historical Risks - NVIDIA has experienced significant sell-offs, including an 85% drop during the Global Financial Crisis and a 68% decline during the Dot-Com crash, with corrections in 2018 and inflation shocks wiping off more than 55% from its peak [6] - The stock also faced a 38% reduction in value due to COVID-related market impacts [6][7]