Nvidia is Wall Street’s most valuable company. How it got there, by the numbers

Nvidia has once again turned out quarterly results that exceeded Wall Street’s forecasts. The company has seen soaring demand for its semiconductors, which are used to power artificial intelligence applications.
Revenue nearly doubled in the latest quarter from the same period a year earlier, Nvidia reported Wednesday. The company expects further revenue growth in the current quarter that ends in January. Investors will be watching to see if demand for the company’s next-generation AI chip called Blackwell can help it maintain the red-hot pace.
The company’s journey to be one of the most prominent players in AI has produced some eye-popping numbers. Here’s a look.
Nvidia’s total market value as of the close Wednesday, tops in the S&P 500. It regained the No. 1 sport from Apple ($3.461 trillion) earlier this week. Microsoft is the only other company with a market value above $3 trillion ($3.089 trillion). One year ago, Nvidia’s market value was around $1.243 trillion.
Gain in Nvidia’s stock price so far this year as of the close of trading Wednesday. A $100,000 investment in Nvidia two years ago would now be worth more than $950,000. Shares fell about 1% in after-hours trading following the release of the company’s earnings.
That’s how much of the S&P 500’s gain for the year could be attributed to Nvidia alone, as of Oct. 31. Nvidia replaced Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average earlier this month.
Nvidia’s revenue from its data center business for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up 112% from a year ago. Overall revenue rose 94% from a year ago to $35.1 billion. By comparison, revenue growth for all the companies in the S&P 500 is expected to be about 5.5% for the latest quarter, according to FactSet.
Nvidia’s estimate for overall revenue in the fourth quarter, “plus or minus 2%.” That translates to a range of $36.8 billion to $38.3 billion, compared to Wall Street’s estimate of $37.1 billion. Revenue in the year-ago fourth quarter totaled $22.1 billion.
Analysts’ estimate for Nvidia’s revenue for the fiscal year that ends in January 2025. That would be more than double its revenue for fiscal 2024 and more than four times its receipts the year before that.
The number of Thanksgiving meals one could buy with Nvidia’s market value of $3.579 trillion, using the $65.51 estimated cost of a 15-item meal from retail intelligence provider Datasembly.