(Feb 13): Nvidia Corp briefly overtook Amazon.com Inc in market value on Monday, the latest milestone in a stunning rally over the past year fuelled by soaring demand for its chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) computing.

Nvidia rose almost 0.2%, closing with a market value of about US$1.78 trillion (RM8.48 trillion). While Amazon fell 1.2%, it ended with a closing valuation of US$1.79 trillion. The chipmaker did surpass the e-commerce and cloud-computing company during the regular session, temporarily making it the fourth most valuable US-listed company, sitting below Alphabet’s US$1.84 trillion market capitalisation. Microsoft Corp weighs in at US$3.09 trillion and Apple at US$2.89 trillion.

“Amazon was actually among the winners in the current earnings season as Amazon’s outlook is improving,” said Saxo Bank’s Peter Garnry. “Nvidia is just riding the first investment wave of the current AI boom with massive capital expenditures being deployed in data centres.”

After remaining range-bound in the second half of 2023, Nvidia’s shares have been on a tear in the new year, rising nearly 50% amid signs that demand remains strong for its chips used in data centres for complex computing tasks required by AI applications. Nvidia has added about US$600 billion in market value so far this year, more than it gained in the last seven months of 2023.

Of course, Amazon’s year is off to a good start as well. The e-commerce giant’s shares jumped 8% last week after reporting strong sales in the fourth quarter and giving a forecast for profitability that topped estimates. The rally briefly pushed Amazon’s market value above Alphabet’s.

Nvidia Corp is the last of the tech giants to report earnings, which are due on Feb 21.