Nvidia holds its lead after becoming the world’s most valuable company

Nvidia may be new to the $3 trillion market cap club, but it’s already passed both Microsoft and Apple to become the world’s most valuable public company.

The AI chipmaker’s shares were up 3.3% in pre-market trading Thursday morning, and its stock has risen 181.46% so far this year. Nvidia’s market cap is currently $3.34 trillion, while Microsoft is at $3.32 trillion, and Apple is at $3.29 trillion.

Earlier this month, Nvidia briefly passed Apple in total market cap as it crossed the $3 trillion threshold for the first time. In February, it became the first semiconductor company to reach a $2 trillion valuation after reporting record fourth-quarter earnings.

In May, the chipmaker once again beat Wall Street’s expectations, reporting record first-quarter revenue of $26 billion for fiscal year 2025 — up 262% from the previous year. After releasing its first-quarter earnings report, Nvidia’s stock price opened above $1,000, but the company has since initiated a 10-for-1 stock split which its shares started trading under on June 10.

Nvidia’s Hopper chips, which are used for training and inferencing some of the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence models, have propelled the company’s revenue and value amid the generative AI boom. In March, Nvidia unveiled Hopper’s successor, Blackwell, which it said will start shipping in the second quarter of this year, and be with customers in the fourth quarter. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said the company will see revenue from its Blackwell AI platform this year.

Earlier this month, Huang announced Blackwell’s successors, the Blackwell Ultra chip for 2025, and next-generation AI chip platform, Rubin, coming in 2026. He said Nvidia plans to announce new chips on a “one-year rhythm.”