Nvidia delivered another quarter of triple-digit growth, but the relevance for Gulf investors now extends beyond U.S. trading screens. Nvidia sits inside locally listed ETFs in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, giving GCC portfolios direct exposure to the company whose earnings have become one of the clearest gauges of global AI spending.
Nvidia reported $96.22 billion of revenue for its fiscal second quarter ended July 26, 2026, up 106% from a year earlier and 18% sequentially. Data Center revenue reached $89.0 billion, up 117% year over year, while non-GAAP diluted earnings per share rose 120% to $2.22. Non-GAAP operating income climbed 124% to $63.96 billion.
The next-quarter numbers were equally consequential. Nvidia expects approximately $108 billion of Q3 revenue, plus or minus 2%, with a 74% adjusted gross margin. That forecast assumes no Data Center compute revenue from China, leaving potential Chinese sales outside the guidance.
The initial market reaction showed how demanding expectations have become. Nvidia shares fell after the release before reversing course and rising 4.2% in after-hours trading, according to Reuters. The company also projected roughly 70% revenue growth for the fiscal year ending January 2028.
Nvidia’s record results also show why simply beating consensus is becoming less powerful for the stock. The company has now exceeded Wall Street’s quarterly revenue estimate for 22 consecutive reports since 2020, according to an analysis of consensus data compiled using TradingView. Across those quarters, the average revenue surprise was 4.9%.
During the first leg of the AI boom, from Q1 through Q3 2023, Nvidia beat estimates by an average 14.0%. Across its latest five quarters, that margin had narrowed to about 2.7%. Revenue is still expanding at extraordinary rates, but Wall Street’s forecasts have caught up considerably. For investors holding Nvidia through GCC-listed ETFs, the distinction matters because future share-price gains increasingly depend on how far Nvidia can exceed already elevated expectations rather than whether it can beat them at all.
Nearly $93 of Every $100 Comes From Data Centers
The composition is perhaps more revealing than the headline growth rate. Data Center generated 92.5% of Nvidia's Q2 revenue, based on Nvidia's reported $89.0 billion against $96.22 billion of company revenue. Edge Computing contributed $7.2 billion.
That concentration turns Nvidia into an increasingly direct proxy for global AI infrastructure spending. Reuters reported that major technology companies are expected to spend more than $730 billion on AI infrastructure during 2026, more than twice the previous year's level.
Nvidia Is Already Inside GCC-Listed ETFs
The KraneShares Public-Private AI & Technology ETF, AGIX, which is cross-listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, held 117,394 Nvidia shares worth $24.47 million as of August 24. Nvidia represented 3.66% of net assets, making it AGIX's third-largest listed position behind Meta at 3.97% and Alphabet at 3.80%.
Saudi investors also have locally listed exposure through the Albilad MSCI US Tech ETF, ticker 9407, a Saudi-domiciled Shariah-compliant technology fund. Nukoud data put its assets at SAR13.22 million as of August 23, with a 0.75% expense ratio.
On ADX, the Lunate S&P US Shariah Growth ETF, USGRWTH, tracks the S&P 500 US Shariah Top 30 35/20 Capped Index, a concentrated portfolio of 30 large U.S. Shariah-compliant growth companies that includes Nvidia.
Sources: KraneShares, Lunate, Albilad Capital and Nukoud. AGIX weight dated August 24, 2026.
USGRWTH had already recorded a AED606,000 weekly net outflow by August 21, the largest among ADX-listed ETFs in Nukoud's market data that week. AGIX fell 3.6% on August 21, although only AED14,900 traded, illustrating the thin secondary-market liquidity that can separate a GCC ETF's local trading behavior from the movement of its U.S. underlying holdings.
Nvidia's Earnings Now Travel Directly Into GCC Portfolios
The Q2 numbers leave little evidence of an immediate slowdown in AI infrastructure demand. Revenue doubled, Data Center sales grew 117%, and Nvidia is guiding toward another quarterly revenue record even without assuming Chinese Data Center compute sales.
For GCC ETF investors, the transmission channel is becoming more direct. Nvidia's next earnings surprise no longer affects the region solely through global risk sentiment or Nasdaq performance. It can move the underlying value of ETFs trading in dirhams on ADX and riyals on the Saudi Exchange.
