AI Titan Nvidia Overtakes Apple As World’s Most Valuable Company
by Derek Saul · ForbesTopline
Artificial intelligence kingpin Nvidia became the largest company in the world Monday, surpassing iPhone maker Apple, marking another feather in the cap for the Silicon Valley titan Nvidia.
Key Facts
Nvidia overtook Apple as the most valuable public company on the planet at Monday’s open, with its $3.39 trillion market capitalization topping Apple’s $3.36 trillion valuation by mid afternoon.
Shares of Nvidia rose 2% and shares of Apple fell 0.2% Monday, continuing the 2% gain Friday for Nvidia and 1% loss for Apple.
Helping boost Nvidia was the Friday afternoon announcement it will replace Intel in the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (the change will go into effect Friday), while Apple shares were dinged by one of its largest shareholders, the Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway, disclosing this weekend another major sale of its Apple stock.
Key Background
Nvidia briefly surpassed Apple as the biggest company in the world Oct. 25, but Nvidia hasn’t ended a trading session as the largest firm since June. Nvidia designs about 75% of the world’s AI accelerators, the semiconductor technology powering generative AI applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, as demand spikes for the graphics processing units produced by Nvidia. This “insane” demand has translated into a massive earnings uptick and stock market boom. Nvidia’s net income rose from $2.3 billion during the first half of 2022 to $31.5 billion during the first half of 2024, and its share price is up 850% over the last two years. Still, Nvidia stock is actually down 4.8% from its all-time closing high set Oct. 21, but Apple shares are down 6.7% over the same period, hence the flip in their market values. In its earnings report Thursday, Apple beat Wall Street expectations for revenue and adjusted profits, but its weaker outlook for the final period of 2024 disappointed investors.
Surprising Fact
Apple’s financial performance is still far more robust than Nvidia’s, with its $397 billion in projected revenue and $98 billion in net income trouncing Nvidia’s $120 billion in sales and $64 billion net profit, according to FactSet data blending results and average forecasts. But analysts expect Nvidia’s growth trajectory to continue, with its $122 billion in projected 2026 profits just a tick below Apple’s $124 billion.