31 May 2023 Nvidia hits $1tn market capitalisation

Nvidia hits $1tn market capitalisation​

What do you need to know this week?

We will look this week at Nvidia, a global chipmaker on track to hit a market capitalisation of $1tn. This will make Nvidia the first chipmaker to reach the threshold, placing it among the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Amazon, and Tesla.

Market capitalisation refers to the total value of the company’s outstanding shares. It is a quick and helpful approximation of a company’s size and value, calculated as:


Nvidia’s market cap as of yesterday is $939bn, with shares trading at $401.11 per share. Its share price has increased nearly 30% in the past five days and 180% since January 2023.

Analysts largely point to the surging interest in generative AI technologies as the primary reason for Nvidia’s explosive growth in the past few months, given that Nvidia supplies chips to the likes of ChatGPT’s creator, OpenAI.

Why is this important for your interviews?

One variation on the commercial awareness interview question asks you to talk about a company that interests you. A good way to approach this is to do a little bit of research into a well-known business and develop a few high-level talking points about what the business does and why it is interesting.

A publicly traded company’s annual report is one of the most comprehensive and authoritative sources that you can access to put together an overview. Specifically, you may find it helpful to review a company’s annual report to determine:

• Each business line or “revenue” stream
• A general understanding of its customers and suppliers
• The opportunities and challenges facing the business.

In Nvidia’s case, with reference to its most recent annual report as well as the use of a bit of critical analysis, we can quickly fill in the following table (with page number references):

(You’ll note that all this information is available in the first few pages of the annual report. Rarely is there any need to dig too deep into the report — though it never hurts!)

The SWOT framework can help you hone your discussion of the company so that you signal to interviewers that you have internalised the key commercial characteristics of the business, rather than simply listing off its features. That said, you do not need to memorise a rigorous SWOT analysis of the company. Just a few informed sentences about what the business does and how it distinguishes itself from competitors will be enough to demonstrate your commercial awareness.

Try to take the information we have found on Nvidia and come up with a succinct analysis about why Nvidia is the largest chip manufacturer, and some of the opportunities and threats facing its business. Feel free to post your answers in our commercial awareness thread.