Nvidia Authorizes Additional $150 Billion Share Buyback Program

Nvidia said Monday it has authorized an additional $150 billion to its share buyback program, taking its total to $235 billion, amid record spending on AI.

The chip giant said it marks the largest share repurchase authorization increase in history. It expects to complete the total remaining buyback program through the fiscal year 2028.

Nvidia produces the most advanced chips used for AI and has been a huge beneficiary of the boom in spending on the infrastructure needed to power the tech.

Nvidia's shares have climbed 24% over the past 12 months, lifting the company's market cap to $5.42 trillion. The stock was up 3.4% on Monday.

"NVIDIA's growth is being driven by a once-in-a-generation platform shift to AI and accelerated computing," said CEO Jensen Huang in a statement.

"Our cash generation gives us the capacity to invest in the technologies that advance this transformation and return capital to shareholders," he added. "This authorization reflects our confidence in the long-term opportunity ahead."

Combined hyperscaler capital expenditure is projected to exceed $1.3 trillion by 2027, S&P Global Ratings said in August, as companies race to build AI infrastructure including data centers.

Huang earlier this month said Nvidia would double the number of chips it sells in 2027.

Alongside making the leading chips for AI — graphics processing units — including its Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems, the company makes a variety of additional semiconductors. That includes central processors, or CPUs, switch chips, chips for optical networking, chips for laptops, Jetson chips for robots and cars, and the chip inside Nintendo's Switch 2 gaming console.

"I think we're going through the largest infrastructure buildout in human history, and we have the benefit of being a very central part of that," Huang told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday.

"We're going to generate a lot of cash in the coming years, and every single year, as we generate more cash, we'd like to be able to return it back to shareholders," he said.