Moody’s Affirms NVIDIA Aa1 Rating as AI Data Center Guarantees Reach $105 Billion

Moody’s Ratings has affirmed NVIDIA Corporation’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) Aa1 senior unsecured rating and Prime-1 short-term commercial paper rating, while maintaining a positive outlook. The decision follows NVIDIA’s plan to provide substantial financial guarantees supporting a major AI data center campus in Pike County, Ohio.

NVIDIA has entered agreements with SB Energy Corp. to support development of the Portsmouth Site AI data center campus. As part of the arrangement, the chipmaker will backstop certain lease and power payment obligations of an OpenAI Group PBC affiliate covering approximately 4.25 gigawatts of IT power.

The company also has the option to extend credit support for another 3.8 gigawatts of IT capacity, potentially expanding its involvement in the massive AI infrastructure project.

NVIDIA’s payment obligations under the initial residual value guarantees are capped at $105 billion. The guarantees are expected to take effect as individual data centers are certified ready for service, beginning in 2028. Moody’s expects NVIDIA’s guarantee exposure to reach its highest level in 2031.

The Ohio AI campus will deploy NVIDIA’s DSX AI factory platform, incorporating the company’s GPUs, CPUs and networking technology.

The agreement comes shortly after NVIDIA announced financing initiatives with six financial partners on August 10. Those platforms are designed to mobilize more than $500 billion in third-party capital for the long-term expansion of global AI infrastructure. NVIDIA may provide credit support covering up to 25% of the financing raised through the programs.

Despite the size of the potential commitments, Moody’s highlighted NVIDIA’s strong financial position. Pro forma for a $25 billion debt issuance completed in June, NVIDIA held approximately $106 billion in cash and marketable securities, while Moody’s-adjusted total debt to EBITDA stood at just 0.2x.

Moody’s forecasts NVIDIA revenue growth of 77% in fiscal 2027 and 54% in fiscal 2028. The ratings agency also expects the AI chip leader to generate approximately $424 billion in cumulative free cash flow over those two fiscal years, providing significant financial capacity as NVIDIA expands its role in AI data center infrastructure.