Chipmaker Nvidia joins exclusive club of companies with a $1 trillion market capitalization

Nvidia has joined the exclusive club of companies with a $1 trillion market capitalization as the chipmaker benefits from the growing use of artificial intelligence.

Nvidia Corp. joins tech titans like Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft in the $1 trillion club. Its stock rose 5% in Tuesday trading, eclipsing $408 per share. Since its initial public offering in 1999, the stock is up roughly 33% annually compared with an average annual gain of 7% in the benchmark S&P 500 index over the same time.

Last week the maker of graphics chips for gaming and artificial intelligence reported a quarterly profit of more than $2 billion and revenue of $7 billion, both exceeding Wall Street's forecasts.

Industry experts believe Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California, could be an early look at how AI may reshape the tech sector. The company was founded in 1993 and initially focused on 3D graphics and gaming. Co-founder Jensen Huang remains the company's president and chief executive.

AI chips are designed to perform artificial intelligence tasks faster and more efficiently. While general-purpose chips like CPUs can also be used for simpler AI tasks, they’re “becoming less and less useful as AI advances,” a 2020 report from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology notes.

Nvidia's chips are used in applications ranging from robotics and the metaverse to medical imaging and video analytics.