![]() |
Nvidia's market capitalisation reached $2.8 trillion last night, compared to a market value of $2.9 trillion for Apple |
Nvidia's shares rallied around 6% to hit a record high on Wall Street last night, leaving the AI chipmaker's stock market value about $100 billion away from overtaking Apple in a major reshuffle of Wall street's biggest players.
Last trading at $1,128, Nvidia's market capitalisation
reached $2.8 trillion, compared to a market value of $2.9 trillion for Apple,
which is Wall Street's second-most valuable company after Microsoft.
Its stock surged as much as 8% to $1,149.39 during the
session, an intra-day record high. Apple's stock was down 0.2% in afternoon
trading.
Nvidia's shares have surged nearly 13% since it forecast
second-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations last week and announced a
stock split, which excited investors as they continue to bet on the AI poster
child.
"The market has been struggling to keep up with the
company's ever improving growth trajectory. At a mid-thirties forward earnings
multiple, this still doesn't feel like bubble territory," said Derren
Nathan, head of equity analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Nvidia recently traded at 36 times its forward profit
estimates, compared with 38 for Advanced Micro Devices and 21 for Intel,
according to LSEG data.
The company's shares have more than doubled so far this year
after more than tripling last year.
Nvidia, which has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of
the AI boom, reported a five-fold jump in revenue at its data centre segment
last week as customers line up for their high-performance chips.
Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon.com and other technology
companies have been competing for a limited supply of Nvidia's high-end chips
as they race to dominate AI computing.
"Business is doing incredibly well, there are so many
opportunities to keep growing, and the AI theme still has legs. When the song
is that catchy, investors want to keep humming it all day long, said Dan
Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell when asked about the stock's rally.
Long considered a must-own stock on Wall Street, Apple has
underperformed other Big Tech companies in recent months, falling around 2%
this year as it struggles with weak iPhone demand and tough competition in
China.
Microsoft overtook Apple as the world's most valuable
company earlier this year as it raced ahead of other tech firms due to gains
made by early investments in artificial intelligence across its cloud services.
Microsoft's shares were down 0.4% last night, giving it a
market value of $3.1 trillion.
Apple has also been slower in rolling out generative AI,
which can generate human-like responses to written prompts, than rivals such as
Microsoft and Google, which are weaving them into products.