Nvidia surpasses Apple to become the world's most valuable company

For the second time this year, US chipmaker Nvidia surpassed Apple to become the world's largest company by market capitalization, with $3,430 billion.

At the close of trading on November 5, Nvidia shares rose 2.8%, bringing its capitalization to $3.43 trillion. Apple shares rose just 0.6%, bringing its capitalization to $3.38 trillion. Thus, Nvidia rose to the position of the world's most valuable company for the second time this year.

The stock has nearly tripled in value since the start of the year. Investors believe that Nvidia’s dominance in AI chips will help it continue its high growth rate. Over the past five years, the stock has increased more than 2,700%. Revenue has also doubled or tripled in the last five quarters.

Nvidia stock has nearly tripled in the past year. Chart: Google Finance

Meanwhile, Apple shares have only risen 17% this year. However, many analysts believe that the recent launch of Apple Intelligence features for the iPhone could help boost revenue.

Apple was the first company in the world to reach the $1 trillion and $2 trillion market capitalization milestones. In June, Nvidia surpassed Apple to become the world's most valuable company. American software giant Microsoft is currently third, with a market capitalization of nearly $3.1 trillion. Microsoft is also a major customer of Nvidia.

Last week, Apple reported a 6% increase in third-quarter revenue, but warned that growth this quarter would be weaker. Nvidia will report on November 20. S&P Dow Jones also announced a few days ago that it would add Nvidia to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), replacing rival Intel. The DJIA is one of the three major indexes of the US stock market.

Nvidia was founded in 1991, initially specializing in 3D gaming chips. Later, the company gradually developed advanced AI software and chips. Nvidia's turning point came in late 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT, creating a global AI craze. OpenAI develops generative AI technology based on Nvidia's graphics chips - a company that currently accounts for 80% of the global AI chip market share.