Nvidia’s rallied to record highs on Wednesday, with the artificial intelligence chip maker’s valuation breaching the US$3-trillion mark and overtaking Apple to become the world’s second most valuable company.

Nvidia is preparing to split its stock 10-for-one, effective on 7 June, a move that could increase its appeal to individual investors.

The surge in Nvidia’s market value above Apple’s marks a shift in Silicon Valley, which the company co-founded by Steve Jobs has dominated since it launched the iPhone in 2007.

Nvidia’s stock rose 5.2% to end the day at US$1 224.40, valuing the company at $3.012-trillion. Apple’s market capitalisation was last at $3.003-trillion after its stock climbed 0.8%. Microsoft remained the world’s most valuable company at $3.15-trillion after its shares climbed 1.9%.

“Nvidia is making money on AI right now, and companies like Apple and Meta are spending on AI,” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO at Longbow Asset Management. “It may be a foregone conclusion that Nvidia will overtake Microsoft as well. There’s a lot of retail money that’s piling in on what they see as a straight shot up.”

Nvidia’s stock has surged 147% so far in 2024, with demand for its top-of-the-line processors far outstripping supply as Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Gooogle race to build out their AI computing capabilities and dominate the emerging technology.

$150-billion in a day

It has rallied nearly 30% just since 22 May, when Nvidia issued its latest stellar revenue forecast. Nvidia added nearly $150-billion in market capitalisation on Wednesday, more than the entire value of AT&T.

Optimism about AI lifted chip stocks broadly on Wednesday, with the PHLX chip index surging 4.5%. Super Micro Computer, which sells AI-optimised servers built with Nvidia chips, climbed 4%.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang this week was the subject of wall-to-wall coverage on Taiwanese television and was mobbed by attendees when he visited the Computex tech trade fair in Taipei, where he was born before moving to the US.

While Nvidia rides a wave of AI enthusiasm on Wall Street, Apple is struggling with weak demand for iPhones and tough competition in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market. Some investors also view Apple as lagging other technology heavyweights as they rush to build AI features into their products and services.

Analysts’ projections for Nvidia’s future earnings have outpaced its stellar stock gains. Nvidia is trading at 39x expected earnings, making it less expensive on that basis than a year ago, when it traded at over 70x expected earnings, LSEG data showed. — Noel Randewich, with Sinead Carew, (c) 2024 Reuters