Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been absolutely crushing it since the artificial intelligence (AI) boom kicked off, reshaping the tech industry and proving that a $4 trillion market cap is more than possible.
In the most recent quarterly report, the company posted $46.74 billion in revenue, while adjusted earnings per share climbed $1.05. Its success rests largely on its graphics processing units (GPUs), which have become the cornerstone of AI training and deployment and driven the stock up 1,350% in the past five years.
Nvidia went public in January 1999, with a price of $12 per share. Now, over 25 years and six stock splits later (most recently 10:1 in 2024), NVDA shares are trading at $177, with a total all-time return of no less than 443,225% as of the time of writing.
In other words, a $1,000 investment in Nvidia following its initial public offering (IPO) in 1999 would have translated into $4,433,250 by September 11, 2025.
How much can Nvidia grow?
In addition to semiconductors, the chip maker has been expanding into emerging fields such as processing-as-a-service and robotics, which could give it an extra competitive advantage long-term.
While the gains have indeed been staggering, the market is still debating whether the growth can continue, and if so, to what extent.
After all, competition is intensifying, and while the trade relations between China and the U.S. have certainly improved, many believe they are still on shaky ground. This is reflected in the fact that Nvidia does not include potential Chinese H20 sales in its forecasts.
Still, Wall Street sentiment remains overwhelmingly bullish. Nvidia has 35 “Buy” ratings, three “Holds,” and just one “Sell,” with a 12-month average price target of $210.08, according to TipRanks.
Adding to the optimism, CEO Jensen Huang recently projected that global data center spending could reach $3-4 trillion by 2030, with research analyst Pierre Ferragu estimating the company could generate up to $1.2 trillion from this sector by the end of the decade, in the most favorable conditions.
The $4-trillion chipmaker also stands to benefit from advances in agentic, personalized, and edge AI, with potential breakthroughs in artificial general intelligence (AGI) expected to heavily rely on its high-performance GPUs.
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Source: https://finbold.com/heres-how-much-nvidia-investors-would-have-if-they-bought-in-1999/