Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia. Lam Yik Fei – Bloomberg/Getty Images
Step aside, alphabet. Out of the way, Amazon. There's a new member in the club of America's most valuable companies
Driven by investor fanaticism over artificial intelligence, Nvidia shares have skyrocketed, catapulting the company up the market capitalization rankings. At the close of trading on Wednesday, the chipmaker was the third most valuable company in America, displacing Google parent Alphabet from that position.
The increase comes just a day after Nvidia overtook Amazon.
Nvidia has a market cap of $1.8 trillion as of 11 a.m. EST on Thursday. (Alphabet is at $1.77 trillion and Amazon is at $1.75 trillion.) However, the company is unlikely to move out of third place anytime soon.
Microsoft currently has a market cap of over $3 trillion and Apple is valued at $2.81 trillion.
In the global rankings, Nvidia is also surpassed by Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco ($2.07 trillion).
In the last two months, Nvidia has increased its market cap by essentially the entire value of Tesla. The company's shares have risen over 51% since the start of the year as demand for its chips from artificial intelligence tool makers continues to rise. Nvidia is the best-performing component of the Nasdaq 100 Index this year, just as it was in 2023 when shares more than tripled.
There certainly seems to be more room to grow too. Revenue is expected to rise 120% in fiscal 2024, with another 60% increase expected next year. Earlier this week, UBS raised its target to $850 from $580 and also raised its earnings per share estimates. And Mizuho Securities raised its target to $825 from $625.
Shares fell slightly on Thursday, losing 1% in mid-morning trading.