AFP
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The continued rise in the company’s shares has led to Nvidia to push the semiconductor giant’s market value above that of its tech peers, helping it snatch the title of the world’s most valuable company, as the frenzy continues with artificial intelligence.
Shares rose as much as 4% to about $3.3 trillion on Tuesday, outpacing Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The big-cap stocks have been jockeying for the top spot all month, with Nvidia finally edging out its tech peers.
Earlier this month, Nvidia surpassed Apple in market value for the first time since 2002, and both companies have moved up and down the rankings in recent days. Last week, “Camel” on company Microsoft to trade in first place for a short period.
Focus on artificial intelligence
This ranking is another reminder that AI is a major focus for many investors.
Nvidia is seen as the biggest and earliest beneficiary of this technology, as it dominates the market with its highly sought-after chips, which help data centers run the complex computing tasks required by AI applications.
Demand for its H100 accelerators is soaring, helping the chipmaker’s sales grow more than 125% last year.
Microsoft is also seen as an early winner of the AI craze, given its investments and partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.
This week, Apple shares surged after the iPhone maker finally revealed its plan to use artificial intelligence, appeasing investors after a long wait.
The race to $4 trillion
“We believe the race to reach $4 trillion in tech over the next year will be a focus between the three companies,” Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note.
Nvidia’s soaring stock price has made co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang one of the world’s richest people. His net worth has risen more than $70 billion since the beginning of the year, to $115 billion, putting him at No. 12 on the Forbes. That’s the biggest gain among his billionaire peers.
More than one chip company
Investors like Huang see Nvidia as more than just a chipmaker.
“They’re not just selling chips, they’re selling systems,” Michael Lippert, vice president and portfolio manager at Baron Capital, said in an interview, referring to the company’s proprietary software and development ecosystem.
Nvidia’s meteoric rise to the top has been record-breaking, as the company is one of the few to show significant revenue growth from AI. As of the recent close, shares were up more than 160% in 2024, adding more than $2 trillion to its market cap.
“The company’s GPU chips are the new gold or oil in the tech sector, with more businesses and consumers quickly moving down this path as the Fourth Industrial Revolution gets underway,” Ives said.
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