Semiconductor giant Nvidia overtook Apple as the most valuable company in the world after a record-breaking stock rally driven by the company’s specialised artificial intelligence chips and unquenchable demand.
Nvidia’s stock market value momentarily surpassed Apple’s USD 3.52 trillion, reaching USD 3.53 trillion, according to LSEG data.
With a market value of USD 347 trillion at the end of the day, Nvidia was up 0.8%, while Apple’s stock increased 0.4%, bringing the iPhone manufacturer’s value to USD 352 trillion.
Nvidia briefly surpassed Apple and Microsoft as the most valuable company in the world in June 2024. The market capitalisations of the three tech companies have been closely tied for several months.
Microsoft’s market value was USD 3.18 trillion, and its stock was up 0.8%. The Silicon Valley chipmaker is the leading provider of processors for AI computing and has emerged victorious in a competition to control the new technology between Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and other industry titans.
After OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced a USD 6.06 billion funding round, Nvidia’s stock rose roughly 18% in October 2024. Nvidia has been known since the 1990s as a designer of video game processors.
Nvidia and other semiconductor stocks saw a boost after data storage company Western Digital reported quarterly profits that exceeded analysts’ projections, boosting confidence regarding data centre demand.
“More companies are now embracing artificial intelligence in their everyday tasks and demand remains strong for Nvidia chips. It is certainly in a sweet spot and so long as we avoid a big economic downturn in the United States, there is a feeling that companies will continue to invest heavily in AI capabilities, creating a healthy tailwind for Nvidia,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said.
As TSMC, the largest contract chipmaker in the world, reported a forecast-beating 54% increase in quarterly profit due to the surge in demand for chips used in artificial intelligence, Nvidia’s shares surged to a record high.