Moody's Ratings affirmed Nvidia Corp.'s Aa1 senior unsecured rating and Prime-1 short-term commercial paper rating on Tuesday, citing the company's role in financing a large-scale artificial intelligence data center campus in Ohio.
The rating agency highlighted Nvidia's residual value guarantees and backstopping of lease and power payment obligations for an OpenAI affiliate developing the Portsmouth Site AI data center campus in Pike County, Ohio. Moody's noted that Nvidia's aggregate payment obligation under the guarantees is capped at $105 billion for its initial commitment, with guarantees expected to peak in 2031 as the project scales.
The Ohio facility is designed to deliver approximately 4.25 gigawatts of IT power capacity, with an option to extend credit support to secure an additional 3.8 gigawatts. Nvidia will provide the infrastructure, including GPUs, CPUs, and networking equipment via its DSX AI factory platform. Certification for service is scheduled to begin in 2028.
Moody's also pointed to Nvidia's $25 billion debt issuance in June and its pro forma cash and marketable securities balance of $106 billion. The company's Moody's-adjusted total debt to EBITDA stood at 0.2x, reflecting a conservative financial position. The rating agency expects revenue to grow 77% in fiscal 2027 and 54% in fiscal 2028, with cumulative free cash flow projected at $424 billion over the two-year period.
The financing structure involves six financial partners aiming to mobilize more than $500 billion in third-party capital for long-term AI infrastructure development, with Nvidia retaining the option to provide credit support for up to 25% of the aggregate financing raised. Moody's maintained a positive outlook on Nvidia's rating, reflecting confidence in the company's strategic positioning in AI infrastructure and its financial flexibility.
