Top NASDAQ Gaming Stocks

1. NVIDIA

Year-to-date gain: 127.66 percent; current share price: US$297.69

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) makes products and platforms that are used in many large markets, from the gaming space to the automotive industry. The company invented the graphics processing unit in 1999, and has gone on to make waves in computer graphics, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

The major multinational tech player's highest share price points of the year came in the second half of November — it hit US$329.85 on November 19 and US$333.76 on November 29. The company's Q3 financial results came out just before those heights on November 17, and they show that NVIDIA's gaming, data center and professional visualization segments all achieved record revenue. Its overall revenue also reached a record, coming in at US$7.1 billion, an increase of 50 percent year-on-year and 9 percent from the previous quarter.

2. Inspired Entertainment

Year-to-date gain: 78.57 percent; current share price: US$11.87

Inspired Entertainment's (NASDAQ:INSE) gaming products target a wide range of players, and its global portfolio includes technology and hardware services for regulated gaming, betting, lottery, social and leisure operators.

Approximately 50,000 of the company's gaming machines are located in betting shops, pubs, gaming halls and other route operations, providing gaming systems with associated terminals and content. It also sells virtual sports products through more than 32,000 retail venues and various online websites, and provides digital games for more than 170 websites. Aside from that, Inspired offers a variety of amusement entertainment machines for arcades and other venues.

Its share price hit a year high of US$15.63 on November 12, the day after Inspired released its financial results for the third quarter. The company reported total revenue of US$77.6 million for the period on a reported basis, up 29 percent from the previous year, and highlighted ongoing growth in its interactive and virtual sports divisions.

3. Ziff Davis

Year-to-date gain: 29.71 percent; current share price: US$110.33

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) is a digital media and internet company with a wide-ranging portfolio. Its areas of focus include technology, entertainment, shopping, health and more, with its entertainment segment including the brands IGN, Humble Bundle and Humble Games. The three businesses have different focuses, but largely center their activities on selling games and other products and providing content. They also offer subscription services.

The company's share price peaked at US$132.98 on November 9. Ziff's financial results for Q3 include record revenue of US$444.3 million, an increase of 24.5 percent from the year-ago period. CEO Vivek Shah said the company will be starting out on a new chapter after spinning out its Consensus business into a new public entity.