Nvidia Corp became the largest company in the world on Tuesday, surpassing Apple and underscoring just how dominant artificial intelligence has become on Wall Street.
Shares rose 2.9% to over $139.9, resulting in a market capitalisation of $3.43 trillion, ahead of Apple at $3.38 trillion. Microsoft Corp, which Nvidia passed last month, has a market cap of nearly $3.1 trillion. Nvidia has soared more than 850% since the end of 2022.
“Over the past several quarters, it has felt like people basically care about inflation numbers, job numbers, and Nvidia numbers,” said Fall Ainina, director of research at James Investment Research. “Nvidia overtaking Apple in market cap not only conveys that it is the biggest beneficiary of the AI infrastructure cycle, but it suggests people expect the AI boom will continue.”
The chipmaker accounts for 7% of the weight of the S& Index and is responsible for about a quarter of the benchmark’s 21% gain this year. Nvidia previously closed with the title of largest company in June, although it only held the record for a day. The biggest companies on Wall Street are all heavily exposed to artificial intelligence: Apple with its newly launched AI iPhones; Microsoft, Amazon.com, and Alphabet with cloud businesses and AI services; and Meta Platforms’ AI features and ad targeting.