Nvidia has once again surged to the top of the global corporate hierarchy, reclaiming its position as the world’s most valuable company after its shares soared to a fresh record high. The chipmaker’s stock jumped more than 4 percent, closing at $154.31 and pushing its market capitalization to an unprecedented $3.77 trillion, overtaking Microsoft and leaving Apple in third place.
A remarkable turnaround in 2025
The rally marks a stunning turnaround for Nvidia, which began the year with a closing price of $149.43 on January 6. After some volatility and a dip in April, the company’s shares have rebounded by 63 percent from their lows, adding nearly $1.5 trillion in market value in just a few months. The latest surge was catalyzed by a robust first-quarter earnings report in late May, which exceeded analysts’ expectations and underscored the company’s dominant position in the artificial intelligence (AI) hardware market.
AI demand powers growth
Nvidia’s meteoric rise is being driven by insatiable demand for its AI chips, which are the backbone of the current global boom in generative AI, machine learning, and data center expansion. The company’s data center business saw a 73 percent year-over-year surge, fueling a 69 percent overall revenue increase in the most recent quarter. Analysts now project Nvidia’s annual revenue could approach $200 billion, with a 53 percent growth rate for the full fiscal year.
Major tech giants—including Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon—together account for more than 40 percent of Nvidia’s revenue, as they aggressively invest in building out their AI infrastructure. Bank of America analysts described Nvidia as the “undisputed leader in performance” among semiconductor firms, forecasting the AI market to reach $1 trillion by 2030, with Nvidia as a key beneficiary.
Defying headwinds: China export ban
Remarkably, Nvidia’s ascent comes despite significant headwinds, most notably the effective loss of the Chinese market due to expanded U.S. export controls. In April, the Trump administration banned the sale of Nvidia’s H20 processor—designed to comply with earlier restrictions—effectively shutting the company out of one of its largest historical markets. Nvidia has acknowledged an $8 billion hit to sales and a $4.5 billion inventory write-off as a result. Yet, the company’s dominance in other markets, especially as governments, startups, and cloud providers worldwide ramp up investment in “AI factories,” has more than offset these losses.
Nvidia is expected to ship 6.5 million GPUs in 2025 and 7.5 million in 2026, with average selling prices exceeding $40,000 per unit. The company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday saw CEO Jensen Huang reiterate that the computer industry is only at the beginning of a massive AI infrastructure upgrade, with robotics and sovereign AI partnerships representing major new growth frontiers.
