Nvidia beats fourth-quarter profit estimates, shares rise

(Reuters) - Nvidia Corp on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates, sending its shares up 9 percent in extended trading.

The company has entered into newer growth areas such as data centres, artificial intelligence and self-driving cars as it looks beyond its bread-and-butter business of selling chips that enhance video game graphics.

Nvidia has grown at a rapid pace in the past few years, but a slowdown in China and a fading cryptocurrency craze have started to weigh on its operations.

Fourth-quarter total revenue fell to $2.21 billion from $2.91 billion, but came above its already lowered estimate of $2.20 billion.

The chip designer also forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Thursday.

It now expects revenue of $2.20 billion, plus or minus 2 percent, for the quarter. Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $2.28 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Excluding items, Nvidia earned 80 cents per share, above analysts' estimates of 75 cents.

(Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)