Nvidia Hits $5 Trillion Valuation as AI Chip Demand Ignites Semiconductor Rally

Nvidia shares climbed 4.32% to close at $208.27 on Friday, pushing the company's total market valuation past the $5 trillion mark. The rally was supported by trading volume of 192.5 million shares, which represents a nearly 12% increase over the three-month average of 172.5 million shares. The surge reflects an intensifying global appetite for AI-capable GPUs and data center hardware. This momentum extended across the chip sector, with Intel shares jumping 23.64% to $82.57 and AMD rising 13.90% to $347.77. The sector-wide lift was largely driven by Intel's robust first-quarter earnings and the CEO's optimistic outlook regarding CPU demand. Investors are now shifting their focus toward Nvidia's fiscal first-quarter 2027 earnings report, scheduled for release on May 20. Market expectations are aggressive, with analysts anticipating triple-digit year-over-year profit growth and revenue growth of approximately 77%. This expected profit spike is partly attributed to a $4.5 billion inventory charge Nvidia incurred in the previous year, which was related to U.S. export restrictions on chips sold to China. The current price action suggests that investors believe the company's GPU architecture remains central to the AI ecosystem despite these regulatory headwinds. The semiconductor rally provided a significant lift to major indices, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1.63% to finish at 24,837 and the S&P 500 rising 0.79% to 7,164.