AI boom: Nvidia market cap closing in on Apple

$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ 's stock rose 7% on Tuesday, bringing its market capitalization to 2.81trillion,justabout100 billion shy of surpassing $Apple (AAPL.US)$ — the second-largest publicly traded company in the world by market value.

NVIDIA's share price has more than doubled this year, with gains in every month except April. This reflects investors' continued optimism in the artificial intelligence leader. The latest surge in NVIDIA's stock price stems from its stellar first-quarter results, particularly the five-fold increase in data center revenue. As technology companies compete increasingly fiercely in the AI space, they are scrambling to purchase NVIDIA's high-end chips to maintain their leadership positions.
Contrastingly, $Apple (AAPL.US)$ has not performed as well as other major tech companies this year, with its share price down 1.3%. This is primarily due to intense competition from Chinese rivals and waning demand for iPhones. Additionally, Apple has lagged behind its peers in rolling out generative AI services.

Earlier this year, $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ surpassed Apple to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company, backed by its potential in artificial intelligence and continued strength in cloud computing.