Nvidia overtakes Apple as world's most valuable company
Updates with closing stock moves and market capitalizations in paragraphs 3, 6
By Sruthi Shankar and Noel Randewich
Oct 25 (Reuters) -Nvidia NVDA.O dethroned Apple AAPL.O as the world's most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence chips.
Nvidia's stock market value briefly touched $3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple's $3.52 trillion, LSEG data showed.
Nvidia ended the day up 0.8%, with a market value of $3.47trillion, while Apple's shares rose 0.4%, valuing the iPhone maker at $3.52 trillion.
In June, Nvidia briefly became the world's most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft MSFT.O and Apple. The tech trio's market capitalizations have been neck-and-neck for several months.
Microsoft's market value stood at $3.18trillion, with its stock up 0.8%.
The Silicon Valley chipmaker is the dominant supplier of processors used in AI computing, and the company has become the biggest winner in a race between Microsoft, Alphabet GOOGL.O, Meta Platforms META.O and other heavyweights to dominate the emerging technology.
Known since the 1990s as a designer of processors for videogames, Nvidia's stock has risen about 18% so far in October, with a string of gains coming after OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced a funding round of $6.6 billion.
Nvidia and other semiconductor stocks got a lift on Friday after data storage maker Western Digital WDC.O reported quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates, buoying optimism about data center demand.
"More companies are now embracing artificial intelligence in their everyday tasks and demand remains strong for Nvidia chips," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
"It is certainly in a sweet spot and so long as we avoid a big economic downturn in the United States, there is a feeling that companies will continue to invest heavily in AI capabilities, creating a healthy tailwind for Nvidia."
Nvidia's shares hit a record high on Tuesday, building on a rally from last week when TSMC 2330.TW, the world's largest contract chipmaker, posted a forecast-beating 54% jump in quarterly profit driven by soaring demand for chips used in AI.
Meanwhile, Apple is struggling with tepid demand for its smartphones. iPhone sales in China slipped 0.3% in the third quarter, while sales of phones made by rival Huawei [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL] surged 42%.
With Apple set to report its quarterly results on Thursday, analysts on average see its revenue climbing 5.55% year over year to $94.5 billion, LSEG data showed.
That compares with analysts' projections for Nvidia of nearly 82% revenue growth to $32.9 billion.
Shares of Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft have an outsized influence on the richly valued technology sector as well as the broader U.S. stock market, with the trio accounting for about a fifth of the S&P 500 index's .SPX weight.
Optimism about the prospects for AI, expectations that the Federal Reserve will considerably bring down U.S. interest rates, and most recently, an upbeat start to the earnings season, helped lift the benchmark S&P 500 to an all-time high last week.
Nvidia's massive gains have helped boost the stock's appeal for option traders and the company's options are among the most traded on any given day in recent months, according to data from options analytics provider Trade Alert.
The stock has surged nearly 190% so far this year as the boom in generative AI led to a series of blowout forecasts from Nvidia.
"The question is whether the revenue stream will last for a long time and will be driven by the emotion of investors rather than by any ability to prove or disprove the thesis that AI is overdone," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.
"I think Nvidia knows that near term, their numbers are likely to be quite remarkable."
Nvidia's race to become world's most valuable company https://reut.rs/48kdnTm
Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco, Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru, Saqib Ahmed in New York and Paolo Laudani in Gdansk; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang
Activos relacionados
Últimas noticias
Descargo de responsabilidades: Cada una de las entidades de XM Group proporciona un servicio de solo ejecución y acceso a nuestra plataforma de trading online, permitiendo a una persona ver o usar el contenido disponible en o a través del sitio web, sin intención de cambiarlo ni ampliarlo. Dicho acceso y uso están sujetos en todo momento a: (i) Términos y Condiciones; (ii) Advertencias de riesgo; y (iii) Descargo completo de responsabilidades. Por lo tanto, dicho contenido se proporciona exclusivamente como información general. En particular, por favor tenga en cuenta que, los contenidos de nuestra plataforma de trading online no son ni solicitud ni una oferta para entrar a realizar transacciones en los mercados financieros. Operar en cualquier mercado financiero implica un nivel de riesgo significativo para su capital.
Todo el material publicado en nuestra plataforma de trading online tiene únicamente fines educativos/informativos y no contiene –y no debe considerarse que contenga– asesoramiento ni recomendaciones financieras, tributarias o de inversión, ni un registro de nuestros precios de trading, ni una oferta ni solicitud de transacción con instrumentos financieros ni promociones financieras no solicitadas.
Cualquier contenido de terceros, así como el contenido preparado por XM, como por ejemplo opiniones, noticias, investigaciones, análisis, precios, otras informaciones o enlaces a sitios de terceros que figuran en este sitio web se proporcionan “tal cual”, como comentarios generales del mercado y no constituyen un asesoramiento en materia de inversión. En la medida en que cualquier contenido se interprete como investigación de inversión, usted debe tener en cuenta y aceptar que dicho contenido no fue concebido ni elaborado de acuerdo con los requisitos legales diseñados para promover la independencia en materia de investigación de inversiones y, por tanto, se considera como una comunicación comercial en virtud de las leyes y regulaciones pertinentes. Por favor, asegúrese de haber leído y comprendido nuestro Aviso sobre investigación de inversión no independiente y advertencia de riesgo en relación con la información anterior, al que se puede acceder aquí.
