Nvidia briefly overtook Amazon.com Inc in market capitalization on Monday as euphoria over artificial intelligence catapulted the chipmaker to the fourth most valuable U.S. company.
At a record high of $734.96, Nvidia had a market value of $1.82 trillion, compared with retail giant Amazon.com’s $1.81 trillion and several billion 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 each worth less than $6 billion.
After Amazon’s better-than-expected holiday quarter sales last month, investors are eyeing Nvidia’s quarterly results on Feb. 21, the last of the big firms to report this earnings season.
Expectations came in high on the report, with the stock up 47% year-to-date, making it the biggest gainer among the S&P 500’s constituents.
Nvidia’s lackluster quarterly results and strong forecasts a year ago showed the chip designer was at the forefront of supplying tech companies working on so-called generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbots and image creation.
A bet on strong demand for AI has outperformed Nvidia shares, making it the best-performing stock among the so-called “Magnificent Seven,” up 223% over the past 12 months. Meta Platforms are second with a 163% increase.
In January, Microsoft overtook Apple to become the world’s most valuable company, with Alphabet in third place.
