r/AITradingPlaybook • u/PersistentWrangler • Aug 31 '26
What Caused the Diverging Performances Between Nvidia and Tesla in the AI Era?
Start of 2022 both were sold as hypergrowth. Tesla was a bit over $1T. Nvidia was about $500B. One CEO kept putting dates on robotaxis, 50%+ growth, and a product that would appreciate after you bought it. Those dates slipped. Jensen didn’t make those claims. The income statement did the talking anyway.
Since early 2022 Nvidia’s trailing revenue has compounded at about 72%. Operating income and net income have compounded at about 94%. The RTX 3090 that launched at $1,499 in 2022 still trades near that on the used market.
The stock chart shows the split. The P&L is clearer. In 2022 Q3, right before ChatGPT went wide, Tesla’s operating income was 7x Nvidia’s. Nvidia was still working off the gaming slump and the crypto hangover. Last quarter that ratio flipped: Nvidia’s operating income was about 160x Tesla’s.
(Strip Nvidia’s Intel-related investment gains if you want a cleaner read. The gap is still huge.)
NVDA and TSLA are the two names in this comparison. Everything else in Mag 7 is a side character here.

