The California-based tech firm Nvidia Corporation became the world’s highest-valued company on Tuesday, knocking off Big Tech titans Apple and Microsoft to take the top spot.
Yahoo Finance reported shares of the firm and chip maker rose before Tuesday’s opening bell, putting Nvidia’s value at $3.329 trillion.
Microsoft was a close second with a market capitalization of $3.321 trillion, while Apple came in third with a still-massive value of $3.279 trillion.
As The Economic Times noted, Apple had been the world’s most valued company for years until January, when it lost that mantle to Microsoft.
Nvidia’s shares were trading at $135.21 late Tuesday afternoon after they opened at $131.27.
Alphabet (Google) and Amazon respectively came in as the fourth and fifth most valuable companies on Wall Street Tuesday.
Nvidia is officially the most-valuable company in the world
Added $3 trillion in market cap over the last 20 months
Unbelievable pic.twitter.com/9xwEfFHueG
— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) June 18, 2024
The company’s stock value has climbed throughout the first two quarters of 2024.
Is this a good thing?
On Jan. 2, shares of Nvidia opened trading at $48.16.
The company’s value has taken off since, thanks in large part to the popularity and potential of artificial intelligence.
NVIDIA is the now the most valuable company in the world.
Wild chart. pic.twitter.com/q2huOpAgKl
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) June 18, 2024
Nvidia is among the most prominent and trusted suppliers of AI technology.
As Reuters noted, the surge in the company’s value is driven by optimism among traders that AI is not only here to stay but will only become more prominent and refined.
Steve Sosnick with the brokerage firm Interactive Brokers LLC told the wire service that Nvidia is currently the envy of the tech world.
“It’s Nvidia’s market; we’re all just trading in it,” Sosnick said shortly after the company became the world’s wealthiest.
As Reuters also noted, Nvidia has consistently over-performed expectations, thanks in large part to the dependability of its AI chips, which are considered second to none.
Nvidia in the past year:
Today: becomes most valuable public company
June 2024: reaches $3 trillion valuation
Feb 2024: reaches $2 trillion valuation
May 2023: reaches $1 trillion valuation pic.twitter.com/02KObAfBnm
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) June 18, 2024
Still, not everyone is sold on the company’s continued growth.
Oliver Pursche of the financial consulting firm Wealthspire Advisors cautioned on Tuesday that Nvidia’s investors might be due for a rude awakening, depending on whether the company continues to shine.
“Nvidia has been getting a lot of positive attention and has been doing a lot of things very correctly, but a small misstep is likely to cause a major correction in the stock, and investors should be careful,” Pursche said.
