SiliconBeat

Another local semiconductor company that appears to be showing signs of life is Nvidia, the Santa Clara maker of graphics-oriented chips - known as GPUs - that are highly valued by computer gamers and other folks.

This week the company reported it lost $105 million, its fourth such plunge into the red in the past five quarters. But it forecast improved sales for the next quarter and Wall Street seemed pleased, according to analysts whose notes are routinely checked by SiliconBeat.

Craig Berger of FBR Capital markets called Nvidia “an interesting story with many potential revenue growth drivers.”

And Hans Mosesmann of Raymond James had especially nice things to say about Jen-Hsun Huang, Nvidia’s co-founder and CEO, saying he has “done an excellent job over the past year.”

Jen-Hsun Huang, the founder and chief executive officer of graphics chip-maker Nvidia, will donate $30 million to help build a “modern and sustainable destination for education and research” at Stanford’s school of engineering, according to a Stanford press release.

To be called the Jen-Hsun Huang School of Engineering Center, the 130,000-square-foot building is already under construction and expected to be completed Read the rest of this entry »