Four years ago, Nvidia Corp. didn’t even rank among the top 20 U.S. companies by market capitalization. Now it’s inching closer to the No. 4 spot as it narrows in on Amazon.com Inc.
In fact, Nvidia’s
NVDA,
valuation eclipsed Amazon’s
AMZN,
in intraday action Monday, though the chipmaker failed to finish the session on top. Nvidia closed the trading day with a $1.785 trillion valuation, according to Dow Jones Market Data, while Amazon ended with a $1.790 trillion valuation.
At Monday’s highs, Nvidia’s intraday valuation peaked at $1.843 trillion.
Nvidia hasn’t finished a session worth more than Amazon since April 2002, when Nvidia was worth $5.73 billion and Amazon was worth $5.32 billion, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The chipmaker’s continued climb —it ranked seventh by valuation a year ago — illustrates the company’s dominant position in the market for artificial-intelligence hardware and Wall Street’s growing confidence about the sustainability of its momentum.
See also: Nvidia’s stock could ride to $800, says Goldman Sachs. Here’s its path.
Several months ago, Wall Street seemed a bit more worried about the sustainability of Nvidia’s strength, namely wondering whether the company was due for a comedown in 2025 if customers pause to “digest” inventory purchased during this current period of supply constraints.
Currently, though, “more investors are convinced next year is going to be a growth year,” Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes wrote in a note to clients Monday.
Nvidia’s stock — fresh off its fifth consecutive week of gains — inched 0.2% higher Monday. Its recent momentum isn’t lost on Reitzes.
“Why does Nvidia seem to go up every day so far this year?” Reitzes asked in a note to clients Monday. Then he offered a simple answer to his own question: “Things are still good.”
Not only is there increased optimism about next calendar year, but also Nvidia is gaining more respect for more “nascent” parts of its business besides its graphics processing units used for artificial-intelligence applications. These include AI enterprise software and networking offerings.
Nvidia’s stock has gained nearly 250% over the past 12 months, while Amazon’s has advanced almost 80%.
See also: Jeff Bezos just sold $2 billion in Amazon stock. That doesn’t mean you should sell too.
