On Wednesday, AI chip designer Nvidia Corporation made Wall Street history as the first company to hit a $4 trillion market capitalization milestone, beating out tech giants like Microsoft and Apple.
The leading designer and supplier of AI chips has benefited from the market’s demand for generative artificial intelligence and its enormous computing needs, despite several tumblings earlier this year.
At the time of publishing on Wednesday morning, Nvidia’s stock price (Nasdaq: NVDA) was up another 2%, at just over $163 per share. The stock is up almost 15% in the last month.
Milestone after milestone
Founded in 1993, the company initially focused on graphic processing units, with its technology set apart from competitors due to its higher ability to render images and visuals. Now, Nvidia’s chips have become a staple for companies’s AI efforts.
Nvidia made its initial public offering (IPO) in January 1999 for $12 a share. Its market cap hit the $1 trillion mark in June 2023. Following the milestone, Nvidia’s stock continued to rise, with its market cap tripling to $3 trillion and catching up to those of Apple and Microsoft.
A speedy recovery
Nvidia’s stock suffered earlier this year due to economic uncertainty and unprecedented advancements in AI technology.
In January, Chinese AI company DeepSeek gained notoriety with a model that required fewer resources than those needed by its American counterparts, causing a slump on Nvidia’s stock.
In April, five days after President Trump’s Liberation Day announcement, Nvidia’s stock fell to $86.62, due to boiling concerns over the uncertainty caused by worldwide tariffs.
