NVIDIA shares gained 3.2% on May 13 to close at $148.50, pushing the company's market capitalization past $5.5 trillion and extending its lead as the most valuable public company in the world. The rally came as Cisco's blowout AI earnings reinforced the narrative that data center spending is accelerating, not peaking.
NVIDIA now trades at a market cap more than $1 trillion above second-place Apple ($4.6 trillion) and roughly $2 trillion above third-place Microsoft ($3.6 trillion). The stock has gained 82% year-to-date, driven by insatiable demand for its H200 and Blackwell GPU architectures from hyperscalers and enterprise AI customers.
What happened
NVIDIA's 3.2% gain on May 13 was catalyzed by Cisco's after-hours earnings report showing AI infrastructure orders tripling year-over-year, which validated the demand environment for GPU-adjacent hardware. Analysts noted that every dollar spent on NVIDIA GPUs generates approximately $3-5 in spending on networking, storage, and cooling infrastructure -- meaning Cisco's results are effectively a demand confirmation for NVIDIA's core business. During the session, Bank of America raised its NVIDIA price target from $160 to $185, citing channel checks showing Blackwell GPU allocation fully booked through Q1 2027. NVIDIA's data center revenue is expected to exceed $140 billion in fiscal year 2027, up from $115 billion in FY2026, according to consensus estimates.
Why it matters
NVIDIA at $5.5 trillion is not just a stock story -- it represents the market's view on the total addressable market for artificial intelligence infrastructure. At its current valuation, NVIDIA is priced at approximately 35x forward earnings, which implies continued 40%+ revenue growth for several years. The Trump-Xi summit discussions on tech export controls add a layer of geopolitical risk, as any tightening of restrictions on chip sales to China could shave $8-10 billion from NVIDIA's annual revenue.
Market impact
NVDA's 3.2% gain contributed approximately 0.25 percentage points to the S&P 500's 0.7% advance, making it the second-largest single-stock contributor behind Apple.