Nvidia briefly overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable public company in June 2024.
Nvidia moved ahead of Apple in market capitalization on June 18, 2024, after a major rise in its share price. The change was driven by investor expectations for continued growth in AI computing, where Nvidia supplied highly sought-after GPUs and related systems.
Market-cap leadership can change quickly because it depends on share prices, not only on annual revenue or profit. Nvidia’s lead was therefore temporary at first, and Microsoft also competed closely for the top position during the same period.
Nvidia’s rise was especially notable because its historic identity was as a gaming graphics-chip specialist. Its data-center business became the dominant growth engine, while its software ecosystem helped make its hardware difficult for customers to replace quickly.