(Feb 15): There seems to be no stopping Nvidia Corp’s scorching rally. The day after surpassing the market value of Amazon.com Inc, the chip giant has now overtaken Alphabet Inc as well.

Shares in Nvidia rose 2.5% on Wednesday, closing with a market capitalisation of about US$1.83 trillion (RM8.75 trillion), and topping the search giant’s value of roughly US$1.82 trillion, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. With the gain, the chipmaker has become the world’s fourth-most valuable company. Saudi Aramco, valued at about US$2 trillion, looms as the next milestone.

Nvidia’s rally has been relentless this year. The stock has climbed about 49% and added some US$602 billion in value, boosted by an insatiable demand for its accelerators that power data centres running complex computing tasks required by artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

While other big tech shares have hardly performed badly in 2024, juxtaposed with Nvidia’s rally they appear to be relegated to the slow lane. The other mega-cap tech firms have already announced earnings, and Nvidia is slated to report on Feb 21.

“[We are] expecting another strong report, but the bar has been raised,” Susquehanna Investment Group analyst Christopher Rolland wrote in a note on Wednesday.

Wall Street analysts are seeing signs of continued robust demand for Nvidia’s AI H100 accelerators. The chipmaker’s sales have been driven by AI spending at its biggest customers, including Microsoft Corp and Meta Platforms Inc.

At least five brokers have hiked price targets for Nvidia this month. Analysts on average have boosted 2024 revenue estimates by more than 100% over the last 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While the AI frenzy has boosted tech stocks that have been linked to the technology, Nvidia is one of the few firms to have demonstrated significant revenue growth from AI.

Read also:
Nvidia reports stakes in Arm, SoundHound and biotech company