For years, some UK investors lamented the lack of an Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) in the FTSE 100. They didn’t yearn for a clone of the AI chipmaker necessarily, more a stock that goes up by a mind-boggling amount in a short space of time.
Nvidia certainly did that, surging around 1,000% in the three years following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022. The chatbot kicked off the whole AI revolution, which Nvidia’s chips are still powering today.
Yet the FTSE 100 has one. It’s Rolls-Royce (LSE:RR), the extraordinary engine maker whose shares have exploded 1,120% higher in a little over three years. Believe it or not, that’s actually better than Nvidia’s 700% gain over this period.
Skyrocketing profits
Now, these are obviously very different businesses — one makes jet engines and the other AI chips. But Rolls-Royce’s financial numbers have, in their own way, been just as spectacular as Nvidia’s.
In 2025, underlying operating profit reached almost £3.5bn, up from £1.6bn in 2023. A more than doubling then, with the operating margin expanding from 10.3% to 17.3%.
Likewise, Nvidia’s profits have soared — they’ve more than quadrupled in this time!
Another commonality is that both companies have mastered the art of the ‘beat and raise’. In other words, they consistently report earnings that exceed analyst expectations, and then raise their future guidance.
For example, the medium-term targets that Rolls-Royce set for itself in late 2023 have already been reached, two years early. Meanwhile, Nvidia still manages to keep pulling off an earnings beat quarter after quarter, despite being probably the most tracked company on Wall Street.
However, as Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, points out: “Rolls-Royce has managed to do what Nvidia couldn’t – engineer a share price bounce following results.”
He was referring to the share price performance yesterday (26 February), when Rolls stock jumped 5.1% while Nvidia dipped 5.5%. This despite the chipmaker posting Q4 revenue of $68.1bn, a 73% year-on-year increase.
Beauchamp added: “It looks like the FTSE 100’s version of Nvidia will keep delivering for investors, as it responds to renewed demand for defence spending across Europe and a fresh ramp up in US [spending] on the way too”.
Data centre buildout
There’s a final way in which Rolls-Royce is emulating Nvidia — data centre growth. While the latter packs them out with its AI processors, the FTSE 100 company is quietly cashing in from the AI power buildout.
You see, its Power Systems division supplies massive back-up engines required to keep power-hungry AI servers running 24/7. In 2025, data centres helped drive 19% revenue growth in this unit, including 30% growth in power generation.
Nvidia fatigue
Nvidia’s share price has gone nowhere since August, suggesting a degree of Nvidia fatigue. The AI revolution’s making investors jittery, and a slowdown in spending by cloud giants at some point is a key risk.
Is the same fate waiting for Rolls-Royce? Probably at some point, especially if the beat-and-raises moderate and start thinning out. The stock is very pricey now, trading at around 40 times this year’s forecast earnings.
By contrast, Nvidia’s going for 24 times forecast earnings. A significant discount to Rolls-Royce.
Of course, there’s nothing stopping long-term investors considering both shares. But right now, my pick is Nvidia.
