Nvidia races ahead to become the most valuable company in the world, edging out Apple and Microsoft

The stock rose 3.5% to close at $135.58 a share Tuesday, putting the company’s market value at about $3.3 trillion and catapulting it over those of Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. The top stocks have jockeyed all month for the pole position, with Nvidia finally edging past both of its big-tech peers.

Earlier in the month, Nvidia capped Apple by market value for the first time since 2002, and the two went back and forth in rankings in recent days. Last week, Apple also overtook Microsoft to trade in the top spot briefly.

The ranking is yet another reminder that AI is the top focus of many investors. Nvidia is seen as the biggest and earliest beneficiary of the technology as it dominates the market with its highly sought-after chips that help power data centers running complex computing tasks required by AI applications. Demand for its H100 accelerators are surging and helped drive the chipmaker’s sales up by more than 125% last year.