Chip manufacturer Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has overtaken Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) as Wall Street’s most actively traded stock, further establishing its significance after rising to become the third-most valuable company in the U.S. This shift underscores the increasing importance of AI-related investments for investors.
The high volume of daily trading in Nvidia shares could pose risks for investors if the company’s revenue growth does not live up to the lofty expectations, potentially deflating a Wall Street surge driven by enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.
Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday is set to be one of the most closely monitored events on Wall Street this week. Some market analysts believe that anything less than an exceptional report could halt the momentum that has seen Nvidia’s stock increase by 47% in 2024.
Nvidia shares have seen an average daily trading volume of about $30 billion over the past 30 sessions, surpassing Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company, Tesla, which had an average daily trading volume of $22 billion during the same timeframe.
Since 2020, Tesla had been the leader in daily U.S. stock trading volumes, according to LSEG data, with its turnover reaching above $35 billion on several occasions in recent years.
On a recent Friday, trading in Nvidia and Super Micro Computer, another beneficiary of the AI boom, constituted over 40% of the total trading volume of the ten most traded U.S. stocks, which includes Tesla, Meta Platforms, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading in Ontario, Canada, suggested that we might be at the “dawn of a new era of trading, similar to the internet’s emergence, with Nvidia leading the way.”
However, Dick also cautioned that the high trading volumes in AI-related stocks might indicate that retail investors and algorithmic trading are pushing prices up based on market momentum rather than fundamental factors like future revenue growth expectations.
Super Micro, which supplies AI-related server components to Nvidia, has seen its market value more than triple to $45 billion in 2024 alone. The stock dropped 20% from its peak on Friday after Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an equal weight rating, citing that its valuation already reflects significant growth potential.
Nvidia, dominating approximately 80% of the high-end AI chip market, recently surpassed the market capitalizations of both Amazon and Alphabet, positioning it as the third-most valuable company on Wall Street, only behind Microsoft and Apple. Nvidia’s market value has soared to $1.8 trillion from $540 billion just a year ago.
In contrast, Tesla’s stock has declined by 20% in 2024, as it faces challenges with lukewarm demand for its electric vehicles and increasing competition.