Nvidia’s record run pushed it past $5 trillion in market cap on Friday, after the stock rose 4.3 percent to $208.27 and closed at its first high since October. The rally was enough to drag more of the chip trade higher, with Intel jumping 24 percent in its best day since 1987 and Advanced Micro Devices adding 14 percent.
The trigger was not just Nvidia itself, but a fresh read on the AI buildout. Intel’s surprise strength and the market’s reaction point to investors still reaching for chip exposure ahead of next week’s earnings from Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta, which together account for more than $11 trillion in market cap and about $600 billion in planned capital spending this year.
That leaves the market leaning harder into AI infrastructure even as the risks are getting louder. Nvidia faces a bigger competitive challenge from Alphabet’s new chips, while the broader bull case is running into warnings from Bank of England deputy governor Sarah Breeden that AI stocks look richly valued and could reset if private credit stress and a macro shock hit at the same time.
For now, the next test is on Wednesday night, when the hyperscalers report and investors get a read on whether data-center spending is still accelerating or starting to cool. Nvidia’s own share price, and the rest of the AI complex, will likely move on whether those results reinforce the idea that this is a durable capex cycle rather than a crowded trade.
