Nvidia is world's most valuable company
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - A South Bay tech company has claimed the title of world’s most valuable company.
On Tuesday, Nvidia surpassed Microsoft with a market valuation of $3.3 trillion.
"I don’t think this is going to be a surprise to many people looking at it, that it has this kind of value," said Ahmed Banafa, a San Jose State University tech expert.
Wall Street’s current tech crush became the bell of the financial ball, closing up 4.60 on the NASDAQ.
Santa Clara-based Nvidia was just weeks ago running a close second to Microsoft but is now the most valuable company in the world.
"For the Silicon Valley in general, that’s going to be really a magnet for talent to come to the valley now that we are No. 1 in the world," said Banafa.
Nvidia’s literal stock-in-trade is chipmaking.
Decades ago, chairman & CEO Jensen Huang saw the bend in the road before reaching the curve and began transitioning from rudimentary gaming graphics to generative artificial intelligence. That field is exploding with growth, which has bumped up Nvidia’s stock by a factor of nine since 2022.
"You need these incredibly powerful, fast chips which Nvidia has had the architecture for a really long time. And so now that’s suddenly recognized as incredibly valuable compared to anybody else in the hardware industry," said Robert Chapman Wood, a professor of strategic management at San Jose State University.
From cars to computers to cell phones and beyond, if AI is the new engine of the 21st century, Nvidia is providing the fuel.
Other companies are in hot pursuit in an uneasy market.
"There will be more investment in AI. We’re gonna see a lot of start-ups that try to either be with Nvidia or try to compete with Nvidia," said Banafa.
But Nvidia has the kind of market lead that makes it hard to catch, and makes it attract attention.
"We have a history of companies that became No. 1," said Wood. "Historically, companies that get as dominant in the markets as Nvidia have a tendency to get into trouble."
Jesse Gary is a news reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on Instagram, @jessegontv and on Facebook, @JesseKTVU
