Nvidia Corp was already the world’s most valuable semiconductor firm and on Wednesday it became the first computer-chip company ever to hit US$3 trillion in market capitalization.
The shares of the Santa Clara, California-based firm have rallied about 147 percent this year, adding about US$1.8 trillion as demand for its chips used to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks skyrockets.
Shares rose 5.2 percent to close at a record US$1,224.40, pushing the market value to more than US$3 trillion and overtaking Apple Inc in the process.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The last time Nvidia was worth more than Apple was in 2002, five years before the first iPhone was released. At the time, both companies were worth less than US$10 billion each.
Nvidia has shown no signs of slowing down or letting its rivals catch up.
Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said that the firm plans to upgrade its so-called AI accelerators every year.
Wednesday’s stock gain increased his wealth by more than US$5 billion to US$107.4 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed.
The rise of generative AI is a new industrial revolution and Nvidia expects to play a major role as the technology shifts to personal computers, Huang told attendees at a keynote address at National Taiwan University Sports Center on Sunday.
Nvidia has been arguably the biggest beneficiary of a massive flood of AI spending, helping vault the company into a race to claim the title as the world’s most valuable company.
The chipmaker still trails Microsoft Corp by market value, but with shares on a tear, Wall Street sees it as only a matter of time before Nvidia overtakes it.
Apple has struggled this year with the technology giant’s shares pressured by concerns over cooling iPhone demand in China and a fine from the EU.
Shares in the company have only recently turned positive for this year as investor sentiment toward the iPhone maker is slowly improving.
Meanwhile, ASML Holding NV became Europe’s second-biggest listed company, overtaking LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE by market value for the first time ever.
The shares jumped 8.1 percent, valuing the company that produces equipment needed to make the most sophisticated semiconductors at about 377 billion euros (US$410 billion).
That is about 641 million euros more than luxury conglomerate LVMH.
In European markets, only Novo Nordisk A/S is worth more.
ASML’s surge was helped by news that its biggest client, chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to receive the high-NA extreme ultraviolet machine by the end of this year.
The chipmaking tool is ASML’s most powerful yet and carries a high price tag of 350 million euros apiece.
For ASML investors, it offered reassurance about sales, as TSMC has previously raised concerns about the machine’s pricing.
The stock had pulled back since April after first-quarter results showed that top chipmakers held off buying high-end equipment.
“Significant orders are expected in coming quarters,” Jefferies analyst Janardan Menon said.
TSMC is to ramp up production for next-generation 2-nanometer chips in the second half of next year, but ASML has not received major bookings so far, he added.
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