Nvidia Briefly Becomes World’s Most Valuable Company

American chipmaker Nvidia has surged to the top of the global tech hierarchy, briefly overtaking Apple to become the most valuable company in history, driven by skyrocketing demand for AI hardware.

During a shortened trading session ahead of the US Independence Day holiday, Nvidia’s stock hit an all-time high of US$160.98 (A$241.47), pushing its market capitalisation to a staggering US$3.92 trillion.

This momentarily eclipsed Apple’s previous record of US$3.915 trillion set in late 2024.

Although Nvidia’s shares settled slightly lower at US$159.60 by market close, valuing the company at US$3.89 trillion, the milestone shows Nvidia’s central role in the global AI arms race.

The California-based company has emerged as the core supplier of AI infrastructure, with major cloud providers like Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Google scrambling to lock in its advanced GPUs.

Analysts predict over US$350 billion in capital expenditure from these companies alone in the coming years to fuel AI data centre growth.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives sees Nvidia reaching a US$5 trillion valuation within 18 months, citing a “tidal wave” of AI investment from both enterprise and government sectors.

Still, some warn the AI boom could be overhyped. Veteran short-seller Jim Chanos compared current investor sentiment to the early 2000s dot-com bubble, warning that capital expenditure in AI could be cut quickly if sentiment shifts.

Founded in 1993, Nvidia has evolved from a pioneer in gaming graphics to a leading force in the AI revolution. Its valuation now exceeds the entire Canadian and Mexican stock markets combined.

Despite its remarkable rise, Nvidia’s forward price-to-earnings ratio has dropped below its five-year average, suggesting that earnings are growing even faster than its stock.