Stock Hits Record High Despite China Sales Collapse
Nvidia shares soared over 4% on Wednesday, closing at a record $154.31 and officially becoming the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. The chipmaker edged past Microsoft with a market cap of $3.77 trillion, while Apple now sits in third place at roughly $3 trillion.
This marks Nvidia’s first record close since January, reinforcing investor confidence in its dominance over the booming artificial intelligence sector—even as China, the world’s second-largest economy, is now off-limits due to U.S. export restrictions.
Rising Despite Trade Barriers
Nvidia’s rally comes on the heels of mounting regulatory pressure. In April, the Trump administration expanded export restrictions on AI chips, banning sales of Nvidia’s H20 processor that had been tailored to comply with prior limits. The company recently disclosed that it expects to lose $8 billion in revenue due to the updated rules and wrote down $4.5 billion in related inventory.
“The $50 billion China market is effectively closed to U.S. industry,” CEO Jensen Huang said last month.
Even with that loss, Nvidia’s data center segment posted a 73% year-over-year jump in revenue, helping the company achieve a 69% overall revenue increase for the quarter. Analysts now forecast Nvidia’s full-year revenue to climb 53% to nearly $200 billion, according to LSEG estimates.
AI and Robotics Driving Future Growth
At the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Huang emphasized that while AI remains the core of Nvidia’s strategy, robotics is emerging as the next big opportunity. The company continues to lead in the production of GPUs essential for powering AI models, machine learning, and autonomous systems.
Despite rising geopolitical risk, Nvidia’s position as a foundational tech supplier for AI infrastructure appears unshaken. The company remains a primary vendor for firms like Microsoft and Meta, both racing to build out massive data centers and generative AI applications.
Market Outlook and Investor Sentiment
Investor optimism has remained high, even as the AI chip leader absorbs the blow from Chinese market losses. The stock’s surge reflects broader confidence in Nvidia’s ability to maintain growth through other regions and industries.
