Nvidia has overtaken Apple to become the world's most valuable company, marking a major shift in the tech landscape driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, Nvidia's market cap surged nearly 3 percent, closing at $3.43 trillion, surpassing Apple's $3.4 trillion. Nvidia's stock, which has nearly tripled in value this year, ended the day at $139.91, before seeing a slight dip in after-hours trading.
Notably, Nvidia experienced remarkable growth in 2023, becoming the primary supplier of GPUs for AI-powered computers. This led to a doubling of their revenue in each of the past five quarters. Nvidia is the leading provider of GPUs, essential for developing and running advanced AI software like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Its stock has surged over 2,700% in the past five years. As a result, Nvidia joined the elite $3 trillion market cap club, briefly surpassing Apple to become the world's most valuable company.
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"Over the past few quarters, it seems like the focus has been primarily on inflation data, employment figures, and Nvidia's performance," said Fall Ainina, director of research at James Investment Research. "Nvidia surpassing Apple in market capitalization not only highlights its position as the leading beneficiary of the AI infrastructure boom, but it also signals that investors anticipate the AI surge will continue."
Apple, which was the first company to reach $1 trillion and $2 trillion market caps, is striving to carve out its role in the AI boom while Nvidia leads in GPU production. Apple's shares have risen over 20% this year, and it recently introduced Apple Intelligence on iPhones, claiming a more private and useful AI experience. However, Apple has struggled with a slow AI rollout and has secured fewer AI-powered chips compared to some of its biggest competitors.
Notably, founded in 1991 to create chips for 3D gaming, Nvidia has soared in recent years for an entirely different reason. Over the last decade, scientists and researchers realized that Nvidia's chip designs, originally made for rendering graphics, were perfect for the parallel processing required by AI. In response, Nvidia developed specialized software and more powerful chips tailored for AI applications.
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