Ahead of the Bell: Nvidia up after beating views

NEW YORK (AP) - Driven by strength across all its businesses, Nvidia Corp. posted better-than-expected results for its third quarter, sending shares higher in premarket trading Friday.

The graphics chip maker posted earnings and revenue above Wall Street's expectations Thursday, and forecast revenue above estimates for the current quarter as well. Bobby Burleson, an analyst with Canaccord Adams, reiterated a "Buy" rating on the company's shares.

He said while all of Nvidia's businesses were strong, its GPU business performed the best, with sales up 25 percent quarter-over-quarter to $464.5 million. The company's total sales were $903 million. A GPU is a graphics processing unit, used mainly to process 3-D graphics.

Burleson said Nvidia experienced some supply constraints during the quarter, as its customers saw stronger than anticipated demand for their products.

Shares of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company rose 53 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $12.80 in premarket trading.