Nvidia, the renowned chipmaker, has overtaken Apple in terms of market capitalization, solidifying its position as the second-most valuable public company in the United States. Boosted by investors’ unwavering confidence in the company and the thriving artificial intelligence sector, Nvidia has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing a $3 trillion market cap, edging past Apple’s $2.99 trillion valuation. Microsoft currently holds the top spot as the most valuable publicly traded company, with a market cap of $3.15 trillion as of Wednesday.
Nvidia’s shares have experienced a remarkable surge, rising over 24% since the company’s first-quarter earnings report in May. This upward trajectory has been ongoing since last year. The chipmaker’s dominance in AI chips for data centers, capturing an estimated 80% market share, has attracted substantial investments from major cloud vendors, amounting to billions of dollars.
In contrast, Apple’s shares have seen a modest 5% increase this year. The tech giant has encountered challenges as its sales growth has stagnated in recent months. In its latest quarterly earnings report, Apple revealed a 4% decline in overall sales, with iPhone sales plummeting by 10% compared to the same period last year.
Founded in 1991, Nvidia initially focused on gaming hardware, catering to the demand for 3D computer games. However, the company has diversified its offerings in recent years, venturing into cryptocurrency mining chips and cloud subscription services.