Nvidia is now the second most valuable publicly listed company in the world, after its market value skyrocketed past $3 trillion (£2.3tn), beating out Apple.

AI seems to be defining success in the market place, with Nvidia’s AI chip promises putting it just behind Microsoft in terms of market value, which leapt over Apple thanks to its partnership with OpenAI.

The chip company’s share price jumped by 5% to more than $1,224 (£957.67) following a sustained climb from last year. In February, the company was valued at $2tn, with the rapid rise galvanised by Nvidia’s plans for a stock split.

This split, set to happen on 7 June, would increase the number of shares ten times, and reduce their value, which would make Nvidia shares more affordable.

Starting off as a computer chip company mainly geared towards video games, Nvidia is now seen as the leader in the AI chip frontier, with the company aiming to stay at the forefront of chip technology to enable further AI expansion.

Shareholders have clearly responded to the strategy, as Nvidia saw sales triple since April 2024 compared to April to June 2023. Compared to the first three months of 2024, sales have risen 18% since this April.

However, not everyone appears to be fully on board. Scottish Mortgage, the UK’s second largest investment trust, has doubts that Nvidia will live up to its predicted sales gains, though the AI future does seem bright.

Recommended reading

• Gartner: Global AI Chips Revenue to Total £56BN in 2024
• AI Chip Race Heats Up As Nvidia Sales Double
• What’s Going On With the AI Chip Race?

Scottish Mortgage has gone so far as to take “a little bit of money out” of the chip giant, deputy manager Lawrence Burns said, as reported by Microsoft Start, though it remains the trust’s largest holding.

Burns cited a potential “period of digestion” in the AI landscape which might delay returns on AI chip design and manufacturing. A further mismatch in demand, between those excited to see new AI chip advancements and those actually needing to implement these AI chips, could also cause a “bumpy period” for chip makers.