Nvidia briefly overtook Amazon in market value on Monday, the latest milestone in a stunning rally over the past year fueled by soaring demand for its chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) computing.
Nvidia rose almost 0.2%, closing with a market value of about $1.78 trillion. While Amazon fell 1.2%, it ended with a closing valuation of $1.79 trillion. The chipmaker did surpass the e-commerce and cloud-computing company during the regular session, temporarily making it the fourth most valuable U.S.-listed company, sitting below Alphabet’s $1.84 trillion market capitalization. Microsoft weighs in at $3.09 trillion and Apple at $2.89 trillion.
"Amazon was actually among the winners in the current earnings season as Amazon’s outlook is improving,” said Saxo Bank’s Peter Garnry. "Nvidia is just riding the first investment wave of the current AI boom with massive capital expenditures being deployed in data centers.”
After remaining range-bound in the second half of 2023, Nvidia’s shares have been on a tear in the new year, rising nearly 50% amid signs that demand remains strong for its chips used in data centers for complex computing tasks required by AI applications. Nvidia has added about $600 billion in market value so far this year, more than it gained in the last seven months of 2023.
Of course, Amazon’s year is off to a good start as well. The e-commerce giant’s shares jumped 8% last week after reporting strong sales in the fourth quarter and giving a forecast for profitability that topped estimates. The rally briefly pushed Amazon’s market value above Alphabet’s.
Nvidia is the last of the tech giants to report earnings, which are due on Feb. 21.