Nvidia's (NVDA) quarterly report once again confirmed the corporation's status as the main beneficiary of the AI boom: adjusted profit and revenue came in above consensus forecasts. However, the market reaction was subdued—shares gained only 4% after the close of trading. Four other companies, whose results were also released on Wednesday, demonstrated far more impressive momentum.
These are the shares of Okta, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and Veeva Systems. Not only did they outperform Nvidia in terms of growth rates, but they also beat Wall Street expectations on key financial metrics.
Nvidia's Report: Strength in Numbers, but Not in Stock Price
For the second fiscal quarter, Nvidia posted adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share on revenue of $96.22 billion. Analysts on average expected $2.10 per share and $92.17 billion in revenue. The company also gave an optimistic outlook for the third quarter, promising $108 billion in revenue—above market estimates.
Nevertheless, investors clearly expected more from the leader in the AI chip market. The subdued reaction to the strong report indicates that most of the positive news was already priced in.
Okta and Salesforce: Leaders of the Post-Market Session
Okta (OKTA) shares surged roughly 19% in after-hours trading—the largest gain among all companies that reported on Wednesday. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.05 per share on revenue of $805 million, while analysts had forecast $0.97 and $795 million, respectively. The company also raised its full-year guidance for profit and revenue.
Salesforce (CRM) shares rose approximately 13% after the release of its report. Adjusted earnings more than doubled to $5.90 per share, boosted by investment income. Net revenue totaled $11.35 billion versus the forecast of $11.32 billion. If the gain holds, it will add about 160 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday.
CrowdStrike and Veeva: Confident Growth on Strong Metrics
CrowdStrike (CRWD) gained about 10%, beating expectations on both revenue and earnings per share. Its third-quarter guidance matched estimates on profit and came in higher on revenue.
Veeva Systems (VEEV) shares, a software developer for the pharmaceutical industry, rose approximately 7%. The company also surpassed analyst forecasts on both key metrics.
Other Moves and One Laggard
Agilent Technologies (A) shares added 4%—the same as Nvidia's shares. Third-quarter revenue totaled $1.88 billion, exceeding the FactSet forecast of $1.84 billion.
Everpure (P), formerly known as Pure Storage, rose approximately 2%. Adjusted earnings reached $0.70 per share on revenue of $1.19 billion—both figures came in above forecasts of $0.58 and $1.1 billion, respectively.
Among the laggards is Urban Outfitters (URBN), whose shares fell about 5%, despite results matching expectations. The company's profit did not include a one-time duty refund.
Wednesday's trading clearly demonstrated that merely beating the earnings forecast is not enough for confident stock growth. Long-term guidance and management comments on prospects have a much greater impact on quotes. Investors now face the task of assessing whether these moves will hold after the market opens on Thursday.
My view: The market is becoming increasingly demanding about the quality of reporting. Nvidia continues to dominate in fundamental metrics, but investors are already looking for new growth points beyond the "Magnificent Seven." The success of Okta and Salesforce shows that the enterprise software and cybersecurity sector remains undervalued by the market—and this could become a key trend for the second half of the year.