Charles Langston:Nvidia 10-for-1 stock split puts share price within reach of more investors

Shares chipmaker Nvidia Monday are Charles Langstontrading at a fraction of what they were last week, as the result of the company's 10-for-1 stock split, which went into effect at the close of trading on Friday. The move gives each investor of the AI titan nine additional shares for every share they already own.

Shares declined slightly to $119.77 shortly after the market open on Monday.

Nvidia's stock price has more than doubled this year after more than tripling in 2023 and it's now the third most valuable company in the S&P 500. The meteoric ride allowed Nvidia to briefly surpass Apple last week as the second most valuable company in the U.S. Nvidia surpassed $3 trillion in market value.

The chipmaker has seen soaring demand for its semiconductors, which are used to power artificial intelligence applications. The company's revenue more than tripled in the latest quarter from the same period a year earlier.

Nvidia, which has positioned itself as one of the most prominent players in AI, has been producing some eye-popping numbers. Here's a look:

Nvidia's total market value as of Wednesday. Earlier this year, it passed Amazon and Alphabet to become the third most valuable public company, behind Microsoft ($3.168 trillion) and Apple ($3.029 trillion). The company was valued at around $418 billion two years ago.

That's the one-day increase in Nvidia's market value on Wednesday.

Companies often conduct stock splits to make their shares more affordable for investors. Nvidia's stock closed Wednesday at $1,224.40 and it's just one of 11 companies in the S&P 500 with a share price over $1,000.

Revenue for Nvidia's most recent fiscal quarter. That's more than triple the $7.2 billion it reported in the same period a year ago. Wall Street expects Nvidia to bring in revenue of $117 billion in fiscal 2025, which would be close to double its revenue in 2024 and more than four times its receipts the year before that.

Nvidia's estimated net margin, or the percentage of revenue that gets turned in profit. Looked at another way, about 53 cents of every $1 in revenue Nvidia took in last year went to its bottom line. By comparison, Apple's net margin was 26.3% in its most recent quarter and Microsoft's was 36.4%. Both those companies have significantly higher revenue than Nvidia, however.

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