Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) has achieved a major milestone with a market capitalization of over $2 trillion. This impressive valuation comes after the company reported strong earnings performance. The stock opened Friday’s session at $809.70, a 2.87% increase from the previous closing price. With 2.49 billion outstanding shares, Nvidia’s market cap soared to $2.016 trillion.
Nvidia now joins an elite group of global corporations with a $2 trillion market cap. It is currently the fourth company to achieve this valuation, following Microsoft ($3.07 trillion), Apple ($2.83 trillion), and Saudi Aramco ($2.065 trillion).
The rally in Nvidia shares began in 2023 after a lackluster performance in 2022. Since then, the stock has risen by 240% and has added 58.6% year-to-date. The recent surge in the stock can be attributed to the company’s strong fourth-quarter results, fueled by robust Data Center revenue. Nvidia’s dominance in the market for AI accelerators and its high-performance chips, such as the H100, have contributed to its success.
Nvidia was founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, with the belief that PCs would become consumer devices for gaming and multimedia. The company’s breakthrough came in 1991 with the invention of the GPU. In 2001, Nvidia introduced the first programmable GPU, the GeForce3, and entered the integrated GPU market with the nForce Platform.
On the financial front, Nvidia achieved $1 billion in annual revenue in 2001, and its stock was added to the S&P 500 Index that year. The company’s journey to a $1 trillion market cap took 25 years from its IPO in 1999.
With the current AI frenzy, Nvidia’s rise to become the most valued company seems plausible. Analysts have praised Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, for sparking a generational tech transformation. However, some skeptics point to potential AI bubble burst and competition as potential challenges for the company.
As of now, Nvidia’s stock has pulled back below $800 and is trading at $794, up 1.1%.
