Nvidia on Thursday became the first public company to reach a market capitalisation of US$5 trillion (NZ$8.6 trillion).
The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company's chips is the main reason that the company's stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Nvidia carved out an early lead in tailoring its chipsets known as graphics processing units, or GPUs, from use in powering video games to helping to train powerful AI systems, like the technology behind ChatGPT and image generators. Demand skyrocketed as more people began using AI chatbots. Tech companies scrambled for more chips to build and run them.
Nvidia's journey to be one of the world's most prominent companies has produced some eye-popping numbers. Here's a look.
23%
The percentage of stock-focused mutual funds and exchange traded funds tracked by Morningstar Direct with exposure to Nvidia. That's 1435 out of 6198, and the exposure totalled about US$1.3 trillion (NZ$2.25 trillion) in market value across all the funds.
US$5.03 trillion (NZ$8.7 trillion)
Nvidia’s total market capitalisation as of the close of trading Thursday, tops in the S&P 500.
Microsoft at US$4.025 trillion (NZ$6.988 trillion) and Apple at US$4 trillion (NZ$6.945 trillion) were next among the most valuable companies in the S&P 500. In all, nine companies in the index have market cap's above US$1 trillion (NZ$1.73 trillion).
79
The number of trading days it took for Nvidia's market cap to grow from US$4 trillion (NZ$6.945 trillion) to US$5 trillion (NZ$8.6 trillion). The market cap had jumped from US$3 trillion (NZ$5.2 trillion) on May 13, to US$4 trillion (NZ$6.945 trillion) on July 9 (41 trading days), although Nvidia had crossed and fallen back below the US$3 trillion (NZ$5.2 trillion) threshold a number of times between June 2024 and May 2025 before making the run to US$4 trillion (NZ$6.945 trillion).
18.6%
The company's contribution to the gain in the S&:P 500 this year as of September 30, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Nvidia shares gained 39% in the first nine months of the year.
US$179.6 billion (NZ$310.7 billion)
The net worth of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, according to Forbes, putting him eighth on its Real-Time Billionaires List. Elon Musk is No. 1 at US$500.2 billion (NZ$868 billion).
US$4.28 trillion (NZ$7.43 trillion)
The gross domestic product of Japan, the world's fourth largest economy, according to the International Monetary Fund.
US$24.2 billion (NZ$42 billion)
The amount of money Nvidia said it returned to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends in the first half of fiscal 2026.
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