Nvidia adds $442B in market value, marking second-largest one-day gain in US history

Nvidia’s market capitalization swelled by $442 billion in a single trading session on August 27, making it the second-largest one-day gain any US company has ever recorded. The only bigger single-session jump belongs to Microsoft, which added $450 billion back in July. Shares climbed 8.7%, Nvidia’s best day since April 2025. After the dust settled, the chipmaker’s total valuation stood at approximately $5.5 trillion, comfortably securing its throne as the world’s most valuable public company. What lit the fuse The catalyst was a second-quarter earnings report that made Wall Street’s already-optimistic models look conservative. Nvidia posted revenue of approximately $96.2 billion for the quarter, more than doubling its year-ago figure. The data-center segment accounted for roughly $89 billion of that total. Nvidia’s forward guidance projected roughly 70% revenue growth for the next fiscal year, a number that blew past the Street consensus of around 45%. Context matters: the road to this rally This surge didn’t happen in a vacuum. It arrived after a stretch that had tested the patience of even Nvidia’s most devoted shareholders. The stock had declined in six of the prior eight quarte...