Nvidia, the semiconductor giant that has come to symbolize the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), briefly reclaimed its position as the world’s most valuable company on Thursday, May 23, 2025. Following a robust first-quarter earnings report that surpassed Wall Street expectations, the company’s shares surged more than 6% in early trading, pushing Nvidia’s market capitalization to a staggering $3.49 trillion momentarily overtaking Microsoft.
While Nvidia ultimately closed the trading day below Microsoft, the market rally underscores the intensifying investor appetite for AI-related stocks, as well as Nvidia’s pivotal role in the accelerating global tech transformation.
Nvidia’s fiscal first-quarter results, reported after the bell on Wednesday, blew past analysts’ estimates. The company reported record-breaking revenue, fueled largely by demand for its cutting-edge AI and data center chips.
The strong performance was driven by the sustained boom in AI development across sectors from cloud computing and autonomous vehicles to medical imaging and generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and its competitors. Nvidia’s specialized graphics processing units (GPUs) are considered indispensable infrastructure for AI training and deployment, positioning the company as a central player in this technological revolution.
The results demonstrated that AI is not a passing trend, but a long-term structural shift that is increasingly reflected in financial markets.
The $3 Trillion Club: A Fierce Battle Among Titans
With its early-morning rally, Nvidia momentarily took the crown from Microsoft and edged ahead of Apple as well, forming a tight trio of tech titans vying for the top valuation in the world. These three companies Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple are the only firms in history to have ever exceeded a $3 trillion market cap.
- Apple first achieved the milestone in June 2023.
- Microsoft joined the exclusive club in January 2024.
- Nvidia touched the $3 trillion mark in mid-2024 and again in early 2025.
The shifting rankings reflect the evolving nature of investor confidence, with a clear tilt toward firms that lead in AI, cloud, and advanced hardware.
Stock Market Dynamics: Gains Fueled by After-Hours Trading
One noteworthy aspect of Nvidia’s recent ascent is that a significant portion of its gains occurred outside regular trading hours. According to data from trading platform Pepperstone, 82% of Nvidia’s gains between March 2024 and February 2025 happened in after-hours or pre-market trading.
This trend highlights two realities:
- Institutional investors and global traders are increasingly active around the clock, often reacting to news, earnings, and macroeconomic signals after U.S. markets close.
- Retail investors are at risk of missing out on key movements unless they use platforms that offer 24-hour access to U.S. equities.
CFD (Contract for Difference) providers like Pepperstone are capitalizing on this by enabling users to trade U.S. tech stocks like Nvidia even when the Nasdaq is officially closed.
Microsoft Holds On But for How Long?
Despite Nvidia’s early lead on Thursday, Microsoft closed the day as the world’s most valuable company, ending with a market cap of $3.41 trillion, just ahead of Nvidia’s $3.39 trillion. Microsoft continues to benefit from its dominant position in enterprise software, cloud computing (Azure), and AI integration via OpenAI.
However, the margin is narrowing. Nvidia’s year-to-date stock increase of around 5% trails Microsoft’s 9%, but the energy behind Nvidia’s AI narrative makes further overtakes very possible in the near term.
In contrast, Apple has struggled in 2025, with its shares down approximately 20% since January. The decline is largely attributed to geopolitical tensions and policy shifts, particularly under the renewed leadership of President Donald Trump, who has reimposed strict tariffs on Chinese imports.
Apple, which assembles a significant portion of its products in China, has been directly affected. Investors are watching closely to see if Apple can diversify its supply chain or shift production domestically, both of which would be costly and time-consuming.
This leaves Nvidia and Microsoft in a stronger relative position, as their supply chains and core offerings are less vulnerable to trade policies.
While Nvidia’s market cap still trails its all-time high of $3.66 trillion set in January 2025, analysts believe the company could break the $4 trillion threshold in the next year if AI adoption continues to accelerate.
Key drivers for this potential growth include:
- Continued dominance in AI training chips, particularly the H100 and B100 GPUs.
- Expansion into edge computing and autonomous systems.
- Strategic partnerships with cloud providers and governments.
- Investments in energy-efficient chip technology to meet the massive power demands of AI data centers.
However, risks remain. Regulatory scrutiny, increased competition from AMD and Intel, and macroeconomic headwinds could challenge Nvidia’s trajectory.
Nvidia’s brief return to the top spot as the world’s most valuable company is more than just a market milestone it’s a testament to the growing dominance of AI in global markets. While the company slipped back into second place by day’s end, its influence on technology, finance, and the future of innovation is unmistakable.
As the world hurtles toward an AI-driven future, Nvidia has positioned itself at the heart of the transformation, redefining what it means to be a tech leader in the 21st century.
