Nvidia outstrips Alphabet as 3rd largest US company by market value

Nvidia overtook Google-parent Alphabet's stock market capitalization to become the third biggest US company on Wednesday, days before the poster child of AI boom is due to report fourth-quarter results.

Strong demand for the Silicon Valley company's chips used in artificial intelligence computing has powered the stock 231 per cent in the past 12 months to record highs, taking its market value to $1.83 trillion.

In comparison, Alphabet's market capitalization is $1.82 trillion.

A 50 per cent surge this year has lifted Nvidia to the top spot among the S&P 500 components stock performance, surpassing even the components of Magnificent Seven.

Earlier this week, it exceeded Amazon.com's market value, leaving the retail giant in the fifth spot. Microsoft overtook Apple last month to become the largest US company.

Wall Street expects Nvidia to post $11.38 billion in fourth-quarter profit, up more than a staggering 400% from a year ago. Its revenue is expected to surge over three-fold to $20.37 billion.

Nvidia now trades 33.19 times its forward earnings estimates, above the industry median multiple of 27.35, per LSEG data.