Stocks Jump as Nvidia Sets Off Tech Rally

Stocks on Wall Street recorded their biggest gain in more than a year on Thursday, a day after Nvidia, which has become an emblem of the growth potential offered by artificial intelligence, reported record profits.

The S&P 500 rose 2.1 percent, its best one-day performance since January 2023. The Nasdaq Composite index, which is chock-full of tech stocks like Nvidia, rose 3 percent, also its biggest one-day jump in over a year.

After markets closed on Wednesday, Nvidia, which designs microchips used in the development of artificial intelligence, reported record revenue of over $22 billion for the final three months of 2023. Those numbers beat analysts expectations, fueling a global stock rally.

The Nikkei 225 index in Japan surged to a new high, breaking through its previous peak which had been set at the beginning of 1990. Stock markets in China, Germany, France and Britain all ended the day higher.

Nvidia’s startling financial performance confirmed a rapid period of growth for the company, which has benefited from the emerging exuberance over A.I. It’s revenues rose more than 250 percent from the same period in 2022.

The company rallied roughly 16 percent on Thursday, making it the best-performing stock in the S&P 500. Over the past 12 months, its stock price has soared 275 percent, adding roughly $1.5 trillion to its market valuation and making it one of the most highly valued companies in the world.

That size also means the company has a big effect on the indexes it is part of, with Nvidia’s stock price surge accounting for almost a third of the S&P’s rise on Thursday.

Other chipmakers also enjoyed a sharp increase in their stock prices, with Advanced Micro Devices rising roughly 11 percent and Applied Materials up 5 percent.