Nvidia surpasses Apple, value hits $3 tn

Shares of the world's most valuable chipmaker Nvidia surged to record highs on Wednesday, taking the semiconductor company's stock market valuation to $3 trillion for the first time, surpassing the tech giant Apple Inc. With this, Nvidia has become the world's second most valued listed company in the world, behind Microsoft, as its 10-for-1 forward stock split programme comes into force on June 7, 2024. 

This development sparked a rush to buy Nvidia shares as the stock split will increase their number and reduce value, making them affordable. Another major rival Microsoft is the most valued company in the world, which has a market cap of $3.151 trillion. Microsoft has also deployed huge resources into AI, investing in the likes of leading players like OpenAI.

The NASDAQ data shows the Nvidia share opened at $1,168.51 and surged 5% to $1,236.12 by the closing of the trading session on Tuesday, hitting the total m-cap of $3,012,024,000,000.

Shares of Nvidia, which has invested heavily in AI, have seen a major spike in recent times, surging over 154.19% in this calendar year alone. The stock has more than doubled at a 212.58% surge in the past year. On a six-month and one-month basis, the share has seen a 162.94% and 32.88% jump, respectively.

At the current m-cap, the company's valuation is larger than the GDPs of all but six of the world's biggest economies. According to 2023 GDP data from the World Bank, the countries whose GDP is bigger than the chipmaker's market cap are the US ($25.46 trillion), China ($17.96 trillion), Japan ($4.23 trillion), Germany ($4.07 trillion), India ($3.38 trillion), and the United Kingdom ($3.07 trillion).

Driven by the recent rally, the market cap of Nvidia surpassed the economy of France ($2.78 trillion), and Russia ($2.24 trillion). Nvidia's m-cap is larger than Canada, which is the ninth largest economy with a GDP of $2.14 trillion, and Italy ($2.01 trillion).

In Q1 of FY25, Nvidia reported revenue at $26 billion, up 18% from the previous quarter and up 262% from a year ago. For the quarter, GAAP earnings per diluted share was $5.98, up 21% QoQ and up 629% YoY. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share stood at $6.12, up 19% from the previous quarter and up 461% from a year ago.

Ahead of the COMPUTEX technology conference in Taipei on June 2, 2024, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang said: “Generative AI is reshaping industries and opening new opportunities for innovation and growth...today, we’re at the cusp of a major shift in computing,” Huang told the audience, clad in his trademark black leather jacket. “The intersection of AI and accelerated computing is set to redefine the future.”