The picks and shovels of the AI revolution
Em um único dia de fevereiro de 2024, a Nvidia inscreveu seu nome nos anais do mercado financeiro ao acrescentar $277 bilhões ao seu valor de mercado — um feito sem precedentes em Wall Street. Impulsionada pela demanda insaciável por chips de inteligência artificial, a empresa não apenas superou recordes, mas revelou algo mais profundo: em toda grande corrida tecnológica, há quem busque o ouro e quem forneça as ferramentas, e a Nvidia firmou-se, de forma inequívoca, como a segunda figura. Com uma valorização de $1 trilhão em apenas nove meses, a trajetória da companhia levanta questões sobre a natureza do poder econômico na era da inteligência artificial.
- As ações da Nvidia dispararam 16,4% em um único pregão, atingindo $785,38 e destruindo o recorde anterior de ganho diário de Wall Street — $196 bilhões da Meta — com uma folga de $81 bilhões.
- O volume de negociações foi tão intenso que a Nvidia sozinha respondeu por quase um quinto de toda a atividade do S&P 500 naquele dia, movimentando $65 bilhões em ações.
- A empresa, que valia $540 bilhões há apenas um ano, chegou a $1,96 trilhão, tornando-se a terceira corporação mais valiosa dos Estados Unidos e a quarta do mundo.
- Com 80% do mercado de GPUs e chips de IA sob seu controle, a Nvidia posiciona-se como a espinha dorsal indispensável da revolução da inteligência artificial, enquanto concorrentes e parceiros veem suas próprias ações subirem em seu rastro.
- Se o momentum atual se mantiver, a empresa pode cruzar a marca de $2 trilhões em breve, consolidando um domínio de infraestrutura que poucos rivais têm condições de contestar.
Na quinta-feira, 22 de fevereiro de 2024, a Nvidia protagonizou o maior ganho de valor de mercado em um único dia já registrado em Wall Street. Após divulgar resultados financeiros que superaram as expectativas dos analistas, as ações da empresa saltaram 16,4%, encerrando o pregão a $785,38 e adicionando $277 bilhões à sua capitalização de mercado — apagando com folga o recorde anterior de $196 bilhões, estabelecido pela Meta apenas semanas antes.
A intensidade da movimentação foi impressionante: $65 bilhões em ações da Nvidia foram negociados naquele único dia, representando quase um quinto de toda a atividade do S&P 500. A empresa também destituiu a Tesla do posto de ação mais negociada em um único dia em Wall Street, título que a fabricante de veículos elétricos mantinha desde 2020.
Com o salto, o valor de mercado da Nvidia chegou a $1,96 trilhão. A velocidade dessa ascensão é o que mais impressiona os analistas: a companhia acumulou $1 trilhão em valor em apenas nove meses, e suas ações já acumulam alta de 58% em 2024, respondendo por mais de um quarto dos ganhos do S&P 500 no período.
O motor por trás desse crescimento é a inteligência artificial. A Nvidia controla cerca de 80% do mercado de unidades de processamento gráfico e chips especializados em IA — o hardware que sustenta toda a infraestrutura do boom tecnológico. Enquanto empresas ao redor do mundo correm para desenvolver suas capacidades de IA, a demanda pelos produtos da Nvidia não para de crescer.
Russ Mould, diretor de investimentos da AJ Bell, recorreu a uma analogia histórica precisa: durante a corrida do ouro do século XIX, quem mais lucrou não foram os garimpeiros, mas os fornecedores de ferramentas. A Nvidia ocupa hoje esse papel — vendendo as picaretas e pás digitais sem as quais nenhuma aplicação de inteligência artificial seria possível. Se o ritmo atual se mantiver, a empresa deve cruzar em breve a marca de $2 trilhões, consolidando sua posição como a infraestrutura essencial da era da IA.
On Thursday, February 22nd, Nvidia's stock price jumped 16.4 percent to close at $785.38, a record high that sent shockwaves through the market. In that single day, the company added $277 billion to its market capitalization—the largest one-day gain Wall Street has ever recorded. The previous record, set by Meta just weeks earlier in early February, had been $196 billion. Nvidia had obliterated it.
The surge came on the heels of the company's earnings announcement the day before, when Nvidia reported financial results that exceeded analyst expectations. The market's response was swift and overwhelming. On Thursday alone, traders moved $65 billion worth of Nvidia shares, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all trading activity across the entire S&P 500. The company's stock had also recently dethroned Tesla as the most heavily traded single stock in a day on Wall Street—a record Tesla had held since 2020.
With this jump, Nvidia's total market value climbed to $1.96 trillion, moving it closer to the $2 trillion threshold. The company now ranks as the third most valuable corporation in the United States and the fourth most valuable in the world. What makes this ascent particularly striking is the speed of it: Nvidia has gained $1 trillion in market value in just nine months. A year ago, the company was worth only $540 billion. In 2024 alone, its stock has climbed 58 percent, accounting for more than a quarter of the S&P 500's gains so far this year.
The engine driving this explosive growth is artificial intelligence. Nvidia controls roughly 80 percent of the market for graphics processing units and specialized AI chips—the hardware that powers the infrastructure behind the AI boom. As companies worldwide race to build out their AI capabilities, demand for Nvidia's products continues to accelerate. The company has become, in effect, the essential supplier in a technological revolution.
Russ Mould, the investment director at AJ Bell, offered a historical parallel that captures Nvidia's position. During the gold rush of the mid-nineteenth century, he noted, the people who made the most money were not those who searched for gold but those who sold the tools and equipment to the prospectors. Nvidia is playing that role today. While countless companies are building AI applications and chasing the promise of artificial intelligence, Nvidia is the company providing the picks and shovels—the chips without which none of the rest is possible.
Other companies tied to AI or dependent on Nvidia's technology have also seen their stocks rise recently, reinforcing both Nvidia's centrality to the current market moment and the intensity of investor appetite for anything connected to artificial intelligence. If Nvidia maintains its current momentum, the company could cross the $2 trillion valuation mark in the near term, cementing its status as the infrastructure backbone of the AI era.
Citas Notables
The people who made the most money during the gold rush were not those who searched for gold but those who sold the tools and equipment to the prospectors. Nvidia is playing that role today.— Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
How did Nvidia's earnings announcement actually move the needle so dramatically? Was there a specific number that surprised people?
The company beat expectations—that's the core of it. When a company reports results better than what analysts predicted, it signals that demand is even stronger than the market thought. In Nvidia's case, that signal was about AI chips. People weren't just buying; they were buying more than expected.
But $277 billion in a single day feels almost abstract. What does that actually mean for the people who own the stock?
For shareholders, it means their holdings became worth significantly more overnight. If you owned a thousand shares, you suddenly owned something worth roughly $41,000 more. But it also matters for the broader market—Nvidia's movement alone accounted for a huge portion of the S&P 500's gains that day.
The comparison to the gold rush is interesting. But doesn't that assume the AI boom will keep accelerating?
That's the bet the market is making. If AI demand flattens or slows, Nvidia's growth story changes. But right now, every major tech company is racing to build AI infrastructure, and they all need Nvidia's chips. The question isn't whether demand exists—it's whether it can sustain at this pace.
What about the fact that Nvidia controls 80 percent of the GPU market? Doesn't that create risk?
It creates both opportunity and vulnerability. The opportunity is obvious—dominance means pricing power and market share. The vulnerability is that competitors are working hard to break that grip, and regulators might eventually scrutinize such concentration. But for now, the market is focused on the opportunity.
If Nvidia hits $2 trillion, what happens next?
Honestly, no one knows. It becomes the most valuable company in the world, or close to it. But valuations that high are built on expectations about the future. If those expectations shift—if AI adoption slows, or if competition intensifies—the stock could correct sharply. The higher you climb, the farther you can fall.