Nvidia Becomes World’s Most Valuable Public Company

Nvidia Corp. has officially become the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, reaching a historic $4 trillion market capitalization on July 9. Shares of the California-based tech firm peaked at $164.42 before settling around $162.73 by mid-afternoon.

With this milestone, Nvidia eclipsed Microsoft Corp., which held a market value of approximately $3.7 trillion on the same day. The achievement marks another milestone in Nvidia’s remarkable rise, driven by its dominance in the artificial intelligence (AI) chip sector.

Originally known for its powerful graphics processing units for gaming, Nvidia has transformed over the past decade into the leading supplier of chips powering generative AI tools like ChatGPT and models from Google, Meta, and Amazon.

Nvidia’s growth trajectory has been staggering. In July 2015, the stock traded at under $0.50. By July 2020, it had climbed to around $10 per share. Since early 2023, amid an AI development boom, Nvidia’s stock has soared more than 1,000%. In 2025 alone, shares have risen by about 20%.

It is now the fastest company to grow from a $1 trillion to $4 trillion valuation. Nvidia first crossed the $1 trillion threshold in June 2023 and passed $3 trillion just one year later.

The company’s success comes despite international challenges. U.S. export restrictions on high-performance chips to China led Nvidia to estimate an $8 billion future revenue loss. Previously, such restrictions caused a $2.5 billion hit to quarterly revenue. Still, profitability surged.

In its latest filing with the SEC, Nvidia reported net income of $18.8 billion for Q1 2025, up from $14.9 billion in the same period last year. Revenue reached $44.1 billion—nearly double the $26 billion earned in Q1 2024.

Even with concerns around competitors like Chinese startup DeepSeek, which claimed it could train models using lower-end chips, Nvidia remains the gold standard. Global investments in AI infrastructure by both governments and corporations continue to fuel demand.