Nvidia added $277 billion in stock market value on Thursday, Feb 24, Wall Street’s largest one-day gain in history after the heavyweight chipmaker’s quarterly report beat expectations and reignited a rally fueled by optimism about artificial intelligence. The company’s stock soared 16.4% to close at $785.38, a record-high close, lifting its market capitalization to $1.96 trillion after its January-quarter report late on Wednesday showed demand for its specialized chips used in AI computing continued to outpace analysts’ already-high expectations.
The Santa Clara, California-based company’s results fed new fuel to a global rally in technology stocks linked to AI, propelling the S&P 500, Europe’s STOXX 600 and Japan’s Nikkei share average to record highs.
Traders exchanged $65 billion worth of Nvidia’s shares on Thursday, accounting for almost a fifth all trading in S&P 500 stocks. Nvidia’s one-day increase in stock market value was the largest in Wall Street’s history, easily beating a record $196 billion gain by Meta Platforms on Feb. 2 after the Facebook parent declared its first dividend and posted robust results.
The rise in Nvidia’s market value on Thursday eclipsed the entire value of Coca-Cola, at $265 billion. Its gain made Nvidia the U.S. stock market’s third-most valuable company, pulling ahead of Amazon.com and Alphabet after jockeying with the two tech powerhouses in recent weeks.