Nvidia topped the list of global market cap on Tuesday overnight.

On Tuesday, June 17, Eastern Time, during the midday session of US stocks, Nvidia's stock price rose by more than 3.2% at one point, and its market cap reached 3.33 trillion US dollars, surpassing Microsoft, which had long held the top spot in terms of market cap. Prior to this, Nvidia broke through the $3 trillion market cap mark for the first time earlier this month and successfully surpassed Apple. This market value leap once again proves the market potential of artificial intelligence technology and the great interest of investors.

Since the end of 2022, Nvidia's stock price has increased by more than nine times. As of the close of June 16th, the stock price has soared by 164.5% this year. This growth is due to its dominant position in the AI chip market, especially in the AI chip market used in data centers, where Nvidia has about 80% of the market share. With a large demand for processors from OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and other companies, Nvidia's business has grown rapidly.

In the last quarter, Nvidia's data center business revenue increased an astonishing 427% year-on-year to $22.6 billion, accounting for about 86% of the company's total sales. This growth is due to the strong demand for its H100 accelerator, which helps data centers run complex computing tasks required for AI applications.

Founded in 1991, Nvidia was originally a hardware company that mainly sold 3D game chips to gamers. Over time, Nvidia began to get involved in cryptocurrency mining chips and cloud gaming subscription services. However, in the past two years, with Wall Street's recognition of Nvidia's potential in AI technology, the company's stock price has experienced explosive growth. This surge has made the company's co-founder and CEO Huang Renxun's net worth reach about $117 billion. According to Forbes' data, he has become the 11th richest person in the world.

At the same time, Microsoft, another major beneficiary of the AI boom, has also risen by about 20% year-to-date. Microsoft holds a large stake in OpenAI and integrates AI models into its key products, including Office and Windows. As one of the largest buyers of Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), Microsoft's Azure cloud service has a huge demand for Nvidia's GPUs. Microsoft recently released a new generation of notebooks designed to run its AI models, called Copilot+.

Although Nvidia's market cap has grown rapidly, the company has not yet been included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a benchmark index composed of 30 stocks, historically including the most valuable companies in the United States. Last month, with the release of earnings, Nvidia announced a 10-to-1 stock split plan, which took effect on January 7th. This split plan will increase the possibility of Nvidia being included in the Dow Jones Index, as the index is a price-weighted index and companies with higher stock prices have a greater impact on the benchmark index.

Most optimistic analysts: Nvidia's market cap will approach $5 trillion in the next year.

After Nvidia completed a 1-for-10 stock split on June 10, Hans Mosesmann, an analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, said on Tuesday that Nvidia would continue to rise and its market cap would reach nearly $5 trillion in the next year. Moreover, Mosesmann raised Nvidia's target price from $140 to $200, which is nearly 52.7% higher than Monday's close and currently the highest price on Wall Street. Since tracking Nvidia's stock in 2017, Mosesmann has given it a buy rating and continues to be bullish on the company's hardware products. He particularly emphasized that the combination of Nvidia's software and hardware is the real highlight of the company.

Mosesmann predicts in his report to clients that Nvidia's software business will grow significantly in its overall sales mix over the next ten years, and due to its sustainability, the company's valuation will rise.

Nvidia's stock has become a favorite of sell-side analysts, with 64 analysts tracked by the media giving it a buy rating, 7 giving it a hold rating, and only 1 giving it a sell rating.

Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, stated in a report that he believes Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft will become the focus of the technology industry's $4 trillion market cap over the next year. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution advances, demand for these chips from companies and consumers continues to grow, and Nvidia's GPU chips are essentially the new gold or oil in the technology industry.

Michael Lippert, Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Baron Capital Inc., emphasized in an interview that Nvidia is not just a chip sales company, they also provide systems, and the company's proprietary software and development ecosystem are key to its success.