The AI revolution has propelled graphics card manufacturer Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) into the top five of the world’s largest companies by market capitalization.
Nvidia’s ascendancy has propelled it past industry giants such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com Inc., Tesla Inc., and Meta Platforms Inc., among others.
Rising Tide Lifts Everyone Except Masayoshi Son’s Softbank
While Nvidia’s co-founder Jensen Huang, investors, and employees have all reaped the rewards of the company’s rise, Masayoshi Son and his conglomerate, SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBF), have not been as fortunate.
Despite previously owning a significant stake in Nvidia, Son’s Softbank relinquished its entire holding for $3.3 billion in January 2019.
See Also: If You Invested $1000 In Nvidia When It Released The World’s First Official GPU 25 Years Ago, Here’s How Much You’d Have
While Nvidia stock witnessed gradual movement in the first two years post-Softbank’s stake sale, it gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
However, the tipping point came when Microsoft Corp.-backed (MSFT) OpenAI’s ChatGPT became viral early in 2023, sparking a bull run for Nvidia’s stock.
In the last year, Nvidia’s shares have experienced a meteoric rise.
Now, let’s delve into how Nvidia stock has performed since Softbank, led by Son, sold its stake five years ago.
Nvidia shares were trading at $36.1825 on Feb. 1, 2019, adjusted for stock splits and other corporate actions.
Its stock price today is $722.48, marking an exponential 1,897% increase during this period.
Had you invested $1,000 in Nvidia stock on Feb. 1, 2019, you would now possess $19,968.
Similarly, a $1,000 investment in a Nasdaq-replicating index fund would be worth $2,811, while the same in an S&P 500-replicating index fund would be valued at $1,975.
Riding The AI Boost
For nearly three decades following the launch of the first official graphics processing unit (GPU), the GeForce 256 in 1999, gamers and content creators were Nvidia’s primary clientele.
However, Huang and his team have since deftly identified two separate use cases, finding success in both – cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence.
Nvidia is now focused on developing technologies customized for the era of Generative AI. Huang envisions that global “accelerated” data centers will double from the existing $1 trillion to $2 trillion by 2029.
“All of these data centers will be ‘accelerated’. This architecture for ‘Accelerated Computing’ is ideal for this next-generation of software called Generative AI, so that’s really at the core of what’s happening,” Huang highlighted.
Nvidia is inundated with orders for its H100 AI GPU. The company has also unveiled the next-generation H200 AI GPU, anticipated to be priced between $25,000 and $ 40,000, featuring 141GB of next-generation memory. Shipping is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2024.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
Read Next: Happy 20, Facebook: If You Invested $1000 In Mark Zuckerberg’s Social Network When It Went Public 12 Years Ago, Here’s How Much You’d Have
Photo courtesy: Nobuyuki Hayashi on Shutterstock
