Nvidia overtakes Apple to become world’s second-most valuable company

Nvidia has overtaken Apple to become the world’s second-most valuable company, with furious demand for the chipmaker’s shares taking its valuation to over $3 trillion.

Shares of Nvidia gained 5.2 percent on Wednesday to close at $1,224.40, lifting the company’s market capitalisation to $3.012 trillion.

Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company, rose 1.91 percent, while Apple gained 0.78 percent.

Nvidia’s rally continues an extraordinary streak of gains for the California-based firm, whose graphics processing units have fuelled a boom in artificial intelligence (AI).

The company’s revenues have soared more than 260 percent over the past year as tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon race to roll out AI.

Shares of Nvidia have more than doubled in value so far this year after more than tripling in value in 2023.

Nvidia last month announced a 10-for-1 stock split “to make stock ownership more accessible to employees and investors”.

The split, which goes into effect on Friday, is likely to make the company’s shares even more attractive to small-time investors.

Apple, the first company to see its market capitalisation breach the $1 trillion and $2 trillion marks, is grappling with tepid demand for its iPhones in China and perceptions that it is falling behind in the race to adopt AI.

Apple’s stock price has risen only about 5 percent so far this year, well behind the broad-based S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq indexes.