On Aug. 9, graphics chip designer and Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) released second-quarter earnings for the period ended July 29.

  • NVIDIA has enjoyed an extended stay at the top of the graphics-crunching performance charts over archrival ATI, now an AMD (NYSE:AMD) subsidiary. It shows in the gross margins, and fiscal discipline has preserved that rich lucre all through the income statement.
  • Given the lush cash balance and overall outstanding financial results, the 4.4% dilution sticks out like a sore thumb. Are you saving up for something special, NVIDIA?
  • You may find our Motley Fool CAPS tagging system refreshing and inspiring -- for example, did you know that NVIDIA is one of the highest-rated producers of "products for nerds" alongside Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN)? Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) don't stand a chance in that comparison.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Sales

$935

$688

36%

Net Profit

$173

$87

99.1%

EPS

$0.43

$0.22

95.5%

Diluted Shares

402.6

385.6

4.4%

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

45.3%

42.5%

2.8

Operating Margin

19.8%

13.9%

5.8

Net Margin

18.5%

12.6%

5.9

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$1,572

$851

84.7%

Accounts Rec.

$508

$460

10.5%

Inventory

$276

$379

(27%)

Liabilities

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$323

$230

40.6%

Long-Term Debt

$0

$0

N/A

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights*

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Cash From Ops.

$300

$18

1576%

Capital Expenditures

$30

$20

49.3%

Free Cash Flow

$270

$2

N/A

*Data taken from comments on the earnings conference call.

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolish richness:

NVIDIA is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick, Microsoft an Inside Value recommendation, and iRobot a bona fide Rule Breaker. Help yourself to a smorgasbord of free 30-day trials to get a taste of what our premium investment services have to offer. 

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication, Anders Bylund had no position in any company mentioned except for a few AMD shares. He would like to remind everyone that smorgasbord -- like ombudsman and angstrom -- is originally a Swedish word. Fool rules are here.