Nvidia has become the first company in history to surpass a $5 trillion market valuation, a milestone that cements the chipmaker’s dominance in the artificial intelligence economy and underscores the extraordinary momentum propelling global technology markets.
Shares of the Santa Clara–based company climbed nearly 3% Wednesday to $207.16, pushing its market capitalization to $5.03 trillion. The surge follows a steady rise fueled by unrelenting demand for its graphics processing units, or GPUs, which power the world’s AI infrastructure.
Nvidia’s value now exceeds that of its competitors—AMD, Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Taiwan Semiconductor—combined. It also surpasses entire sectors of the S&P 500, including industrials, utilities, and consumer staples. The company first crossed the $2 trillion threshold in March 2024 and then doubled that figure just 16 months later, overtaking Apple and Microsoft as the world’s most valuable firms.
The company’s meteoric rise has been driven by a wave of corporate partnerships and government-backed initiatives to expand AI capabilities. Recent collaborations with OpenAI, Oracle, Nokia, and Eli Lilly have further cemented Nvidia’s role as the backbone of the AI boom. The company has already shipped 6 million of its advanced Blackwell chips, with orders for 14 million more.
Investors are watching closely ahead of Nvidia’s next earnings report, scheduled for Nov. 19. The company has projected as much as half a trillion dollars in total sales over the next five quarters, a forecast that continues to drive optimism despite concerns of overheating valuations.
Still, some analysts warn that the AI sector’s rapid ascent has the hallmarks of a speculative bubble reminiscent of the early 2000s dot-com surge. Heavy investments in data centers and chip production, coupled with limited immediate revenue, have raised questions about sustainability.
Source: Wall Street Journal