By Investing.com
Publication Date: 2026-02-21 01:13:00
With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) has surged to become the world’s most valuable company, reaching a market capitalization of around $4.5 trillion, an extraordinary increase from roughly $0.5 billion at the time of its IPO.
NVIDIA’s shares surged an astonishing 427,191.5% since its inception, fueled by its graphics processing units (GPUs) becoming the backbone of AI training and data centers. More recently, the relentless demand for its chips, especially those built on its Blackwell architecture, has driven strong quarter-over-quarter growth in sales and profits.
However, over the past two years, surging enthusiasm around AI has fueled impressive gains for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:), which have climbed 405.9% and 412.6%, respectively, far outpacing NVIDIA’s 153%. Both companies boast a highly scalable business model and are viewed as one of the few capable of replicating NVIDIA’s success. Here are the reasons behind that view –
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
1. HBM: AI-Driven Demand Fuels Micron’s Growth
Micron has grabbed Wall Street’s attention amid surging demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, driven by the rapid expansion in AI. With hyperscalers and data center operators increasing investments in AI infrastructure, the demand for HBM chips has climbed sharply. At the same time, supply constraints have created a demand-supply imbalance, enhancing…
