AI Frenzy Boosts Nvidia’s Market Value Above Amazon
(Reuters) – Nvidia briefly overtook Amazon.com Inc in market capitalization on Monday as euphoria over artificial intelligence lifted the chipmaker to the fourth most valuable U.S. company.
At a record high of $734.96, Nvidia’s market capitalization was $1.82 trillion, while retail giant Amazon.com is at $1.81 trillion and a few billion away from Google owner Alphabet’s $1.87 trillion, according to LSEG data.
The last time Nvidia was more valuable than Amazon was in 2002, when they were worth less than $6 billion.
After Amazon’s bigger-than-expected holiday quarter sales last month, investors are looking ahead to Nvidia’s quarterly earnings on Feb. 21, the last of the megacap companies to report this earnings season.
Expectations have been high for the report, and the stock is up 47% year to date, making it the biggest gainer among the S&P 500 components.
Quarterly results and Nvidia’s strong forecasts a year ago showed the chip designer was in pole position to supply tech companies working on so-called generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbots and image creation.
A bet on strong AI demand has boosted Nvidia shares, making it the best-performing stock among the so-called “Magnificent Seven,” up 223 percent over the past 12 months. Meta Platforms is second with a 163 percent increase.
Microsoft overtook Apple in January and became the world’s most valuable company, behind Alphabet in third place.
