Nvidia to overtake Apple as world's second-most valuable company soon

Nvidia's stock has nearly tripled in value over the past year to $2.68 trillion.

Nvidia may soon surpass Apple to become the world's second-most valuable company backed by a surge in adoption of AI. Apple has been the largest Wall Street firm by market value for years but as reliance on Nvidia's high-end chips has increased, the company's stock has nearly tripled in value over the past year to $2.68 trillion.

Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang displays products on-stage during the annual Nvidia GTC Artificial Intelligence Conference at SAP Center in San Jose, California.(AFP)

On the other hand, Apple gave up its top spot to Microsoft earlier this year as the company- last valued at $2.92 trillion- grapples with weak demand for its iPhones and tough competition in China. Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, said as per news agency Reuters, “It is certainly notable because Apple has been so dominant for so long, especially on the growth and innovation front. Recently though, Apple's innovation curve seems to have flattened, showing slower future growth.”

“On the other hand, Nvidia has been able to catch wave upon wave of growth. Beginning with gaming demand, then crypto and now AI, they have been able to perfectly match innovation with demand and that equals explosive growth,” Brian Mulberry added.

Moreover, Nvidia also became the fastest company to grow from $1 trillion to $2 trillion in 2024 as it zoomed past Amazon.com, Google-parent Alphabet and Saudi Aramco. Its stock traded at 37 times forward earnings, compared with 48 times earnings a year ago, LSEG data showed.

Meanwhile, it was also popular in the derivatives market as GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF- that tracks twice the daily percentage change in Nvidia, is the largest single stock ETF.