Graphic chip-maker Nvidia Corp. on Thursday reported a 34 percent jump in first-quarter profit, boosted by stronger sales of its graphics processors, but shares fell as earnings still missed expectations.

Nvidia reported net income of $176.8 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with income of $132.3 million, or 22 cents a share, for the year-earlier period.

Excluding the effect of stock-based compensation expenses, the company said it earned 36 cents per share, two cents below analysts' forecasts.

Revenue grew by 37 percent to $1.15 billion, up from $844.3 in the prior year. Adjusted income was 36 cents a share. The company was expected to report earnings of 38 cents a share on revenue of $1.15 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

The growth of GPUs continues to outpace the PC market. We shipped 42 percent more GPUs this quarter compared to the same period a year ago, resulting in our best first quarter ever, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said in a statement.

The company reported its best first quarter ever as it sold 42 percent more graphics processor units than a year ago. It also said the growth of processor chips continues to outpace growth in the PC market.

For the current quarter, Nvidia said it expects a seasonal decline in revenue of about 5 percent.