AutomotiveThin moat
Nvidia (NVDA) — moat facet
A decade of dashboard promises became $2.35 billion of revenue, and a smaller share of Nvidia every year.
Automotive is Nvidia's oldest bet on something other than graphics, and it has finally become a business. It brought in $2,349 million in fiscal 2026, up 39%1, about 1.1% of the company2.
The ambition is older than the revenue. In fiscal 2016 Nvidia was already describing an end-to-end solution for self-driving cars, pairing DRIVE PX in the vehicle with DIGITS for training the network3, a decade before the robotaxi partnerships. The line started in the dashboard. By fiscal 2016 Nvidia said its products were in more than 10 million cars, powering infotainment, navigation and digital cockpits4; the revenue that year was $320 million5. What it sells now is different: the DRIVE computing platforms, the software stack for automated and self-driving vehicles, and development work for carmakers, all reported inside the Compute & Networking segment alongside the data center6. The same Blackwell architecture runs in both; a car is sold one chip and a data center thousands.
It is paid for in two ways. Carmakers buy the computers that go into each vehicle, so revenue follows the production of the models that use them; and they pay for development services while those models are being designed. The first kind only arrives years after a design win, which is why a decade of announcements produced so little revenue for so long.
The growth series shows exactly that lag. The line was $183 million in fiscal 20157, then $320 million, $487 million and $558 million8, $641 million and $700 million9, then $536 million, $566 million and $903 million10, and $1,091 million, $1,694 million and $2,349 million11. That is about 26% a year compounded over eleven years12. The weak year was fiscal 2021, down 23%, on the expected ramp-down of legacy infotainment modules and development agreements13. Before that, fiscal 2020 rose 9% on AI cockpit and development services14, and fiscal 2022 only 6%, as self-driving and AI cockpit sales offset the decline in legacy cockpit revenue15. Since then it has grown 60% in fiscal 2023 on self-driving and electric-vehicle computing16, 21% in fiscal 202417, 55% in fiscal 202518 and 39% in fiscal 2026, driven by adoption of the self-driving platforms19. The quarters of fiscal 2026 ran $567 million, $586 million and $592 million20, and the fourth was $604 million21, after 32% growth in the third22. The slowdown is sharper than the annual figure shows: the fourth quarter was only about 6% above the $570 million of a year earlier23, against 39% for the year as a whole. One quarter is not a trend, and model launches are lumpy, but a line that is supposed to be accelerating toward robotaxis should not be decelerating toward single digits. Sequential growth of about 1% to 3% a quarter is what a business looks like when revenue follows car production rather than orders for new computers.
Nvidia does not report the line's profit. It shares a segment with the data center, which earned 67.3% in fiscal 202624, but a car computer is a single board sold with each vehicle, and the development work that wins future models is a cost now for revenue years later. Any margin figure for automotive alone would be a guess.
The outlook rests on robotaxis and on China. In October 2025 Nvidia and Uber announced a plan to scale Uber's autonomous fleet toward 100,000 Level-4 vehicles from 2027, with Stellantis, Lucid and Mercedes-Benz building cars on Nvidia's platform25, and BYD, Geely, Isuzu and Nissan adopted the DRIVE Hyperion Level-4 platform26. Those are design wins; the revenue arrives when the vehicles are built. The Future Bets page argues the robotaxi case in full.
From fiscal 2027 automotive is reported inside Edge Computing with PCs, workstations and robots, so its own number will be visible only in management's commentary. That makes the clean test harder. The test that matters is automotive's share of revenue, which went 1.8%, 1.3% and 1.1% over the last three years27: a line growing 39% inside a company that grew 65% in fiscal 2026 is still shrinking as a share, and it will matter only when it grows faster than the data center.
Revenue grew 60%, 21%, 55% and 39% in the last four fiscal years to $2.35 billion, but the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 was only about 6% above a year earlier. The Uber and DRIVE Hyperion programmes add vehicles from 2027; until they do, the line is holding its pace, not widening, and at 1.1% of the company it is still shrinking as a share.
Automotive grew 39% in fiscal 2026 but the company grew 65%, so the line keeps shrinking as a share. It matters to the whole only when robotaxi volumes make it grow faster than the data center.
- ReportedIt brought in $2,349 million in fiscal 2026, up 39%, about 1.1% of the company.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2026 - revenue by end market: Data Center $193,737M (compute $162,361M, networking $31,376M), Gaming $16,042M, Professional Visualization $3,191M, Automotive $2,349M, OEM and Other $619M, total $215,938M, with FY2025 ($115,186M; $11,350M; $1,878M; $1,694M; $389M) and FY2024 ($47,525M; $10,447M; $1,553M; $1,091M; $306M); segment operating income Compute & Networking $130,141M on $193,479M and Graphics $9,156M on $22,459M (FY2025 $82,875M on $116,193M and $5,085M on $14,304M); segment definitions; FY2026 growth by market; supply constraints expected to be a headwind to Gaming; the H20 charge; history (GPU 1999, CUDA 2006, AlexNet 2012, Grace 2023); gaming, workstation and DGX Spark product descriptions — FY2024-FY2026 · publ. Filed Feb 2026 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcIt brought in $2,349 million in fiscal 2026, up 39%, about 1.1% of the company.Moat Explorer calculations from NVIDIA Forms 10-K FY2016-FY2026, Forms 10-Q and CFO commentaries: shares of revenue, compound growth rates FY2015-FY2026, segment margins, fourth-quarter figures (annual less nine months) and unallocated costs (FY2026 operating income $130,387M less segment total $139,297M) — FY2015-Q2 FY2027 · publ. 2026-09-18 · source ↗
- ReportedIn fiscal 2016 Nvidia was already describing an end-to-end solution for self-driving cars, pairing DRIVE PX in the vehicle with DIGITS for training the network, a decade before the robotaxi partnerships.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2016 - revenue by specialized markets FY2014-FY2016 (FY2015: Gaming $2,058M, Professional Visualization $795M, Datacenter $317M, Automotive $183M, OEM & IP $1,329M, total $4,682M); Tesla for AI and big-data researchers; an end-to-end self-driving solution of DRIVE PX and DIGITS; Professional Visualization served by working closely with independent software vendors; products in more than 10 million cars; GeForce Experience downloaded by more than 70 million users; Intel's 2011 patent cross-licence paying $1.50 billion over six years, final $200 million received January 2016, recognised through Q1 FY2018 — FY2014-FY2016 · publ. Filed Mar 2016 · source ↗
- ReportedBy fiscal 2016 Nvidia said its products were in more than 10 million cars, powering infotainment, navigation and digital cockpits; the revenue that year was $320 million.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2016 - revenue by specialized markets FY2014-FY2016 (FY2015: Gaming $2,058M, Professional Visualization $795M, Datacenter $317M, Automotive $183M, OEM & IP $1,329M, total $4,682M); Tesla for AI and big-data researchers; an end-to-end self-driving solution of DRIVE PX and DIGITS; Professional Visualization served by working closely with independent software vendors; products in more than 10 million cars; GeForce Experience downloaded by more than 70 million users; Intel's 2011 patent cross-licence paying $1.50 billion over six years, final $200 million received January 2016, recognised through Q1 FY2018 — FY2014-FY2016 · publ. Filed Mar 2016 · source ↗
- ReportedBy fiscal 2016 Nvidia said its products were in more than 10 million cars, powering infotainment, navigation and digital cockpits; the revenue that year was $320 million.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2018 - products include cryptocurrency-specific GPUs; revenue by specialized markets FY2016-FY2018 (Gaming $2,818M / $4,060M / $5,513M; Professional Visualization $750M / $835M / $934M; Datacenter $339M / $830M / $1,932M; Automotive $320M / $487M / $558M; OEM & IP $783M / $698M / $777M) — FY2016-FY2018 · publ. Filed Feb 2018 · source ↗
- ReportedWhat it sells now is different: the DRIVE computing platforms, the software stack for automated and self-driving vehicles, and development work for carmakers, all reported inside the Compute & Networking segment alongside the data center.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2026 - revenue by end market: Data Center $193,737M (compute $162,361M, networking $31,376M), Gaming $16,042M, Professional Visualization $3,191M, Automotive $2,349M, OEM and Other $619M, total $215,938M, with FY2025 ($115,186M; $11,350M; $1,878M; $1,694M; $389M) and FY2024 ($47,525M; $10,447M; $1,553M; $1,091M; $306M); segment operating income Compute & Networking $130,141M on $193,479M and Graphics $9,156M on $22,459M (FY2025 $82,875M on $116,193M and $5,085M on $14,304M); segment definitions; FY2026 growth by market; supply constraints expected to be a headwind to Gaming; the H20 charge; history (GPU 1999, CUDA 2006, AlexNet 2012, Grace 2023); gaming, workstation and DGX Spark product descriptions — FY2024-FY2026 · publ. Filed Feb 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedThe line was $183 million in fiscal 2015, then $320 million, $487 million and $558 million, $641 million and $700 million, then $536 million, $566 million and $903 million, and $1,091 million, $1,694 million and $2,349 million.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2016 - revenue by specialized markets FY2014-FY2016 (FY2015: Gaming $2,058M, Professional Visualization $795M, Datacenter $317M, Automotive $183M, OEM & IP $1,329M, total $4,682M); Tesla for AI and big-data researchers; an end-to-end self-driving solution of DRIVE PX and DIGITS; Professional Visualization served by working closely with independent software vendors; products in more than 10 million cars; GeForce Experience downloaded by more than 70 million users; Intel's 2011 patent cross-licence paying $1.50 billion over six years, final $200 million received January 2016, recognised through Q1 FY2018 — FY2014-FY2016 · publ. Filed Mar 2016 · source ↗
- ReportedThe line was $183 million in fiscal 2015, then $320 million, $487 million and $558 million, $641 million and $700 million, then $536 million, $566 million and $903 million, and $1,091 million, $1,694 million and $2,349 million.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2018 - products include cryptocurrency-specific GPUs; revenue by specialized markets FY2016-FY2018 (Gaming $2,818M / $4,060M / $5,513M; Professional Visualization $750M / $835M / $934M; Datacenter $339M / $830M / $1,932M; Automotive $320M / $487M / $558M; OEM & IP $783M / $698M / $777M) — FY2016-FY2018 · publ. Filed Feb 2018 · source ↗
- ReportedThe line was $183 million in fiscal 2015, then $320 million, $487 million and $558 million, $641 million and $700 million, then $536 million, $566 million and $903 million, and $1,091 million, $1,694 million and $2,349 million.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2020 - revenue by specialized markets FY2018-FY2020 (Gaming $5,513M / $6,246M / $5,518M; Professional Visualization $934M / $1,130M / $1,212M; Data Center $1,932M / $2,932M / $2,983M; Automotive $558M / $641M / $700M; OEM & Other $777M / $767M / $505M); Gaming down 12% on lower desktop GPU and gaming-platform SoC sales; Data Center up 2%, vertical industry growth partially offset by lower hyperscale sales; OEM and Other down 34% primarily due to the absence of cryptocurrency-specific product sales; Professional Visualization up 7% on desktop and notebook workstations; Automotive up 9% on AI cockpit solutions and development services agreements — FY2018-FY2020 · publ. Filed Feb 2020 · source ↗
- ReportedThe line was $183 million in fiscal 2015, then $320 million, $487 million and $558 million, $641 million and $700 million, then $536 million, $566 million and $903 million, and $1,091 million, $1,694 million and $2,349 million.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2023 - revenue by specialized markets FY2021-FY2023 (Data Center $6,696M / $10,613M / $15,005M; Gaming $7,759M / $12,462M / $9,067M; Professional Visualization $1,053M / $2,111M / $1,544M; Automotive $536M / $566M / $903M; OEM & Other $631M / $1,162M / $455M) and FY2023 drivers: Gaming and Professional Visualization down 27% on lower sell-in to reduce channel inventory, Automotive up 60%, OEM and Other down 61%; CMP revenue nominal in FY2023 and $550 million in FY2022, provided to address demand from gamers and direct miners to CMP — FY2021-FY2023 · publ. Filed Feb 2023 · source ↗
- ReportedThe line was $183 million in fiscal 2015, then $320 million, $487 million and $558 million, $641 million and $700 million, then $536 million, $566 million and $903 million, and $1,091 million, $1,694 million and $2,349 million.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2026 - revenue by end market: Data Center $193,737M (compute $162,361M, networking $31,376M), Gaming $16,042M, Professional Visualization $3,191M, Automotive $2,349M, OEM and Other $619M, total $215,938M, with FY2025 ($115,186M; $11,350M; $1,878M; $1,694M; $389M) and FY2024 ($47,525M; $10,447M; $1,553M; $1,091M; $306M); segment operating income Compute & Networking $130,141M on $193,479M and Graphics $9,156M on $22,459M (FY2025 $82,875M on $116,193M and $5,085M on $14,304M); segment definitions; FY2026 growth by market; supply constraints expected to be a headwind to Gaming; the H20 charge; history (GPU 1999, CUDA 2006, AlexNet 2012, Grace 2023); gaming, workstation and DGX Spark product descriptions — FY2024-FY2026 · publ. Filed Feb 2026 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcThat is about 26% a year compounded over eleven years.Moat Explorer calculations from NVIDIA Forms 10-K FY2016-FY2026, Forms 10-Q and CFO commentaries: shares of revenue, compound growth rates FY2015-FY2026, segment margins, fourth-quarter figures (annual less nine months) and unallocated costs (FY2026 operating income $130,387M less segment total $139,297M) — FY2015-Q2 FY2027 · publ. 2026-09-18 · source ↗
- ReportedThe weak year was fiscal 2021, down 23%, on the expected ramp-down of legacy infotainment modules and development agreements.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2021 - Professional Visualization down 13% as COVID hit enterprise workstation demand; Automotive down 23% on the ramp-down of legacy infotainment modules and development agreements; OEM and Other up 25% on entry-level laptop GPUs — FY2021 · publ. Filed Feb 2021 · source ↗
- ReportedBefore that, fiscal 2020 rose 9% on AI cockpit and development services, and fiscal 2022 only 6%, as self-driving and AI cockpit sales offset the decline in legacy cockpit revenue.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2020 - revenue by specialized markets FY2018-FY2020 (Gaming $5,513M / $6,246M / $5,518M; Professional Visualization $934M / $1,130M / $1,212M; Data Center $1,932M / $2,932M / $2,983M; Automotive $558M / $641M / $700M; OEM & Other $777M / $767M / $505M); Gaming down 12% on lower desktop GPU and gaming-platform SoC sales; Data Center up 2%, vertical industry growth partially offset by lower hyperscale sales; OEM and Other down 34% primarily due to the absence of cryptocurrency-specific product sales; Professional Visualization up 7% on desktop and notebook workstations; Automotive up 9% on AI cockpit solutions and development services agreements — FY2018-FY2020 · publ. Filed Feb 2020 · source ↗
- ReportedBefore that, fiscal 2020 rose 9% on AI cockpit and development services, and fiscal 2022 only 6%, as self-driving and AI cockpit sales offset the decline in legacy cockpit revenue.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2022 - Gaming up 61% on higher sales of GeForce GPUs; Automotive up 6% on self-driving and AI cockpit solutions offset by a decline in legacy cockpit revenue; Professional Visualization up 100% on the ramp of Ampere architecture products and workstation demand for hybrid work — FY2022 · publ. Filed Mar 2022 · source ↗
- ReportedSince then it has grown 60% in fiscal 2023 on self-driving and electric-vehicle computing, 21% in fiscal 2024, 55% in fiscal 2025 and 39% in fiscal 2026, driven by adoption of the self-driving platforms.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2023 - revenue by specialized markets FY2021-FY2023 (Data Center $6,696M / $10,613M / $15,005M; Gaming $7,759M / $12,462M / $9,067M; Professional Visualization $1,053M / $2,111M / $1,544M; Automotive $536M / $566M / $903M; OEM & Other $631M / $1,162M / $455M) and FY2023 drivers: Gaming and Professional Visualization down 27% on lower sell-in to reduce channel inventory, Automotive up 60%, OEM and Other down 61%; CMP revenue nominal in FY2023 and $550 million in FY2022, provided to address demand from gamers and direct miners to CMP — FY2021-FY2023 · publ. Filed Feb 2023 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcSince then it has grown 60% in fiscal 2023 on self-driving and electric-vehicle computing, 21% in fiscal 2024, 55% in fiscal 2025 and 39% in fiscal 2026, driven by adoption of the self-driving platforms.Moat Explorer calculations from NVIDIA Forms 10-K FY2016-FY2026, Forms 10-Q and CFO commentaries: shares of revenue, compound growth rates FY2015-FY2026, segment margins, fourth-quarter figures (annual less nine months) and unallocated costs (FY2026 operating income $130,387M less segment total $139,297M) — FY2015-Q2 FY2027 · publ. 2026-09-18 · source ↗
- ReportedSince then it has grown 60% in fiscal 2023 on self-driving and electric-vehicle computing, 21% in fiscal 2024, 55% in fiscal 2025 and 39% in fiscal 2026, driven by adoption of the self-driving platforms.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2025 - revenue by end market FY2023-FY2025, segment operating income FY2023-FY2025 (Compute & Networking $5,083M on $15,068M in FY2023), networking $3,688M in FY2023; Graphics revenue $11,906M in FY2023; and FY2025 drivers: Automotive up 55% on self-driving platforms, Professional Visualization up 21% on Ada RTX workstations for generative AI design, simulation and engineering — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. Filed Feb 2025 · source ↗
- ReportedSince then it has grown 60% in fiscal 2023 on self-driving and electric-vehicle computing, 21% in fiscal 2024, 55% in fiscal 2025 and 39% in fiscal 2026, driven by adoption of the self-driving platforms.NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2026 - revenue by end market: Data Center $193,737M (compute $162,361M, networking $31,376M), Gaming $16,042M, Professional Visualization $3,191M, Automotive $2,349M, OEM and Other $619M, total $215,938M, with FY2025 ($115,186M; $11,350M; $1,878M; $1,694M; $389M) and FY2024 ($47,525M; $10,447M; $1,553M; $1,091M; $306M); segment operating income Compute & Networking $130,141M on $193,479M and Graphics $9,156M on $22,459M (FY2025 $82,875M on $116,193M and $5,085M on $14,304M); segment definitions; FY2026 growth by market; supply constraints expected to be a headwind to Gaming; the H20 charge; history (GPU 1999, CUDA 2006, AlexNet 2012, Grace 2023); gaming, workstation and DGX Spark product descriptions — FY2024-FY2026 · publ. Filed Feb 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedThe quarters of fiscal 2026 ran $567 million, $586 million and $592 million, and the fourth was $604 million, after 32% growth in the third.NVIDIA Form 10-Q, Q3 FY2026 - quarterly revenue by end market; quarterly revenue by end market incl. Gaming $3,763M / $4,287M / $4,265M, Professional Visualization $509M / $601M / $760M and Automotive $567M / $586M / $592M for the first three quarters of FY2026; Gaming up 30% year on year and down 1% sequentially as channel inventories normalised; Professional Visualization up 56% and 26% sequentially on DGX Spark and Blackwell; Automotive up 32% — Quarter ended 26 October 2025 · publ. Nov 2025 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcThe quarters of fiscal 2026 ran $567 million, $586 million and $592 million, and the fourth was $604 million, after 32% growth in the third.Moat Explorer calculations from NVIDIA Forms 10-K FY2016-FY2026, Forms 10-Q and CFO commentaries: shares of revenue, compound growth rates FY2015-FY2026, segment margins, fourth-quarter figures (annual less nine months) and unallocated costs (FY2026 operating income $130,387M less segment total $139,297M) — FY2015-Q2 FY2027 · publ. 2026-09-18 · source ↗
- ReportedThe quarters of fiscal 2026 ran $567 million, $586 million and $592 million, and the fourth was $604 million, after 32% growth in the third.NVIDIA Form 10-Q, Q3 FY2026 - quarterly revenue by end market; quarterly revenue by end market incl. Gaming $3,763M / $4,287M / $4,265M, Professional Visualization $509M / $601M / $760M and Automotive $567M / $586M / $592M for the first three quarters of FY2026; Gaming up 30% year on year and down 1% sequentially as channel inventories normalised; Professional Visualization up 56% and 26% sequentially on DGX Spark and Blackwell; Automotive up 32% — Quarter ended 26 October 2025 · publ. Nov 2025 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcThe slowdown is sharper than the annual figure shows: the fourth quarter was only about 6% above the $570 million of a year earlier, against 39% for the year as a whole.Moat Explorer calculations from NVIDIA Forms 10-K FY2016-FY2026, Forms 10-Q and CFO commentaries: shares of revenue, compound growth rates FY2015-FY2026, segment margins, fourth-quarter figures (annual less nine months) and unallocated costs (FY2026 operating income $130,387M less segment total $139,297M) — FY2015-Q2 FY2027 · publ. 2026-09-18 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcIt shares a segment with the data center, which earned 67.3% in fiscal 2026, but a car computer is a single board sold with each vehicle, and the development work that wins future models is a cost now for revenue years later.Moat Explorer calculations from NVIDIA Forms 10-K FY2016-FY2026, Forms 10-Q and CFO commentaries: shares of revenue, compound growth rates FY2015-FY2026, segment margins, fourth-quarter figures (annual less nine months) and unallocated costs (FY2026 operating income $130,387M less segment total $139,297M) — FY2015-Q2 FY2027 · publ. 2026-09-18 · source ↗
- ReportedIn October 2025 Nvidia and Uber announced a plan to scale Uber's autonomous fleet toward 100,000 Level-4 vehicles from 2027, with Stellantis, Lucid and Mercedes-Benz building cars on Nvidia's platform, and BYD, Geely, Isuzu and Nissan adopted the DRIVE Hyperion Level-4 platform.NVIDIA Newsroom — NVIDIA and Uber partnership (Oct 2025): scaling Uber's global autonomous fleet toward 100,000 Level-4 vehicles beginning 2027, with OEMs incl. Stellantis, Lucid and Mercedes-Benz on NVIDIA DRIVE — Announced Oct 2025 · publ. Oct 2025 · source ↗
- ReportedIn October 2025 Nvidia and Uber announced a plan to scale Uber's autonomous fleet toward 100,000 Level-4 vehicles from 2027, with Stellantis, Lucid and Mercedes-Benz building cars on Nvidia's platform, and BYD, Geely, Isuzu and Nissan adopted the DRIVE Hyperion Level-4 platform.NVIDIA Newsroom — BYD, Geely, Isuzu and Nissan adopt NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion for Level-4 vehicle programs — 2025–2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcThe test that matters is automotive's share of revenue, which went 1.8%, 1.3% and 1.1% over the last three years: a line growing 39% inside a company that grew 65% in fiscal 2026 is still shrinking as a share, and it will matter only when it grows faster than the data center.Moat Explorer calculations from NVIDIA Forms 10-K FY2016-FY2026, Forms 10-Q and CFO commentaries: shares of revenue, compound growth rates FY2015-FY2026, segment margins, fourth-quarter figures (annual less nine months) and unallocated costs (FY2026 operating income $130,387M less segment total $139,297M) — FY2015-Q2 FY2027 · publ. 2026-09-18 · source ↗
- Nvidia Form 10-K filings — Business & Risk Factors (SEC EDGAR)
- NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2021 - Automotive down 23%
- NVIDIA newsroom - Uber robotaxi partnership
- NVIDIA newsroom - DRIVE Hyperion Level-4 adopters