Nvidia's Market Cap Surpasses Amazon, Threatening Alphabet's Position

On Tuesday, Nvidia was on the verge of overtaking Alphabet as Wall Street's third most valuable company. The dominant AI chipmaker ended the day with a market capitalization above Amazon's for the first time in two decades.

Reuters noted that Nvidia's market capitalization briefly overtook Amazon's on Monday, but Amazon was back on top by the end of that trading session. The previous time Nvidia was more valuable than Amazon was in 2002, when they were each worth under $6 billion.

Nvidia's Stock Value and Amazon's Decline

Nvidia's shares slipped 0.17%, leaving its stock market value at $1.78 trillion, eclipsing Amazon's $1.75 trillion value after the online shopping and cloud-computing heavyweight's stock declined 2.15%.

Google owner Alphabet's stock dipped 1.62%, leaving its market capitalization at $1.81 trillion.

US News reported that Nvidia has been a top beneficiary of technology companies' race to build AI into their products and services. Its graphics processors are in short supply as Meta Platforms, and other big tech companies buy billions of dollars worth of its components.

In a client note, Mizuho raised its price target for Nvidia's stock to $825 from $625. The Santa Clara, California, company's quarterly results are due on Feb. 21. The stock ended Tuesday at $721.28.

Nvidia's Dominance in the AI Chip Market

Nvidia controls about 80% of the high-end AI chip market, which has sent its stock up 46% this year after more than tripling in 2023. Other technology-related companies, including Microsoft and Meta, have also rallied to record highs on AI optimism.

Alphabet has put chatbot technology into its Google search engine while marketing generative AI tools to cloud customers. Its stock hit an all-time high a day before its quarterly report on Jan. 30 failed to meet investors' high expectations and sent its shares tumbling. Alphabet's stock remains up 4% in 2024.

Photo: Nvidia Newsroom