Nvidia solidifies position as world’s most valuable company

(Reuters) -Nvidia cemented its status as the world’s most valuable company after the semiconductor bellwether’s shares gained 2.5% to hit another record on Thursday, as partners Dell and Super Micro Computer received server orders for Elon Musk’s AI startup.

Nvidia, whose market capitalization surpassed that of Microsoft on Tuesday, was set to add nearly $84 billion to its last close market value of $3.34 trillion at the current level of $138.99.

Microsoft had a market value of $3.32 trillion, as of last close. Its shares were down 1% at $442 in early trade.

Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer gained 4% and 4.5%, respectively.

Musk said on his X social media platform on Wednesday that Dell and Super Micro are supplying server racks for xAI’s supercomputer, which will be used to expand the capabilities of its AI tool, Grok.

He said earlier this year that training the Grok 2 model took about 20,000 Nvidia H100 graphic processing units and that the Grok 3 model and beyond would require 100,000 Nvidia H100 chips.

“While Microsoft both spends and makes money in AI, Nvidia only makes money and lots of money and profits in AI. That’s why you cannot spell Nvidia without AI,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer, Longbow Asset Management.

Nvidia’s stock price has nearly tripled so far this year, powering the gains in the broader market. Super Micro shares have more than tripled in value during the same period, while Dell’s stock is up nearly 95%.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index has risen nearly 34% since the most recent low in April and closed at a lifetime high on Tuesday.

“This will be a tech market in which the strong will get stronger as AI technology helps Big Tech Stalwarts monetize their massive installed bases across the enterprise (Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, Amazon, etc) and consumer landscape (Meta, Apple, Google) over the coming years,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Medha Singh; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)