NVIDIA Form 10-Q Q2 FY2027 (filed 2026-08-26) - H200 China licence outcome, tariff on licensed chips

PRIMARY SEC filing, quarter ended 2026-07-26, accession 0001045810-26-000075. THE most decision-relevant export-control fact in this slice, because it is an outcome rather than a rule: the January 2026 case-by-case licence regime (source spl-bis-2026-01-advanced-computing-case-by-case) was granted and still produced almost no shipments. Quoted: the USG 'granted licenses that would allow us to ship small amounts of H200 products to specific China-based customers, BUT SUCH SALES WERE RESTRICTED BY THE PRC GOVERNMENT, and we have been unable to sell all the products for which we have licenses.' NVIDIA took a $0.4 BILLION charge in H1 FY2027 for H200 excess inventory and purchase obligations 'as the demand for H200 products diminished'. After the charge NVIDIA 'made a fraction of the allowed shipments', and those shipments 'account for LESS THAN 1% OF DATA CENTER REVENUE in our most recent quarter'; separately, 'Shipments of Data Center Hopper products to China during the second quarter of fiscal year 2027 were less than 1% of Data Center revenue'. MECHANISMS named, both of which are compliance costs a supply record should carry: the licences 'require that the H200s go through an INSPECTION PROCESS IN THE UNITED STATES prior to any shipment to the customer', and consequently 'any H200s shipped under the new licensing program are subject to a 25% TARIFF UPON IMPORTATION INTO THE UNITED STATES', on which NVIDIA states 'we have been unable to pass along any of the tariff to our customers'. Quarter context: revenue $96.2bn (up 106% YoY), Data Center $89.0bn (up 117% YoY), driven by 'the ramp of our Blackwell Ultra infrastructure'; gross margin approximately flat sequentially, with elevated memory and systems prices cited as a headwind to Edge Computing. The lesson for procurement: an export licence is necessary but NOT sufficient - destination-country import approval was the binding constraint, and the inspection-plus-tariff mechanics add cost and dwell time to any licensed channel.