NVIDIA became the first company valued at US$5 trillion (A$7.63 billion) as its prime position in the engine room of the global artificial intelligence (AI) revolution pushed its share price to record levels.
Shares in the American computer chip manufacturer closed $6.13 (3.05%) higher at $207.16 on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), cementing its position as the most valuable company in the world with a market capitalisation of US$5.03 trillion (A$7.65 trillion).
It reached $5 trillion when the price hit $207.86 on the way to a high of $212.05, making the company larger than the economies of Japan and the United Kingdom.
“NVIDIA hitting a $5 trillion market cap is more than a milestone; it’s a statement,” Hargreaves Lansdown Senior Equity Analyst Matt Britzman was quoted as saying in a Reuters story.
“NVIDIA has gone from chip maker to industry creator. The market continues to underestimate the scale of the opportunity, and NVIDIA remains one of the best ways to play the AI theme.”
It passed through $4 trillion barrier just three months ago as demand for its high-performance graphics processors used for AI soars, particularly since the launch in 2022 of the ChatGPT large language model.
The share price has increased by almost 50% so far this year and more than 1,550% over the last five years.
The surge in Nvidia’s stock has also lifted the value of founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s stake to about $179 billion, making him the eighth wealthiest person in the world.
Huang was lauded by United States President Donald Trump as an “incredible guy” in a speech in South Korea on Wednesday.
