Nvidia hit a record high intraday, pushing its market capitalization close to $6 trillion! This comes as its $30 billion investment in OpenAI comes to a close.

Nvidia's stock price hit a record high during Friday's trading session, just one step away from becoming the world's first publicly traded company to surpass a market capitalization of $6 trillion. This rebound ended a two-month-long deep correction that wiped out more than $1 trillion in market value, and was supported by multiple positive factors, including improved prospects for AI demand, massive stock buybacks, and changing expectations for macroeconomic interest rates.

On Friday, Nvidia's stock price rose as much as 3% during trading, hitting a new intraday high for the first time since May of this year; gains narrowed towards the close, ultimately finishing up 1.34%, with the closing price slightly below the all-time closing record. Its market capitalization briefly surpassed $5.7 trillion that day.

In terms of news, according to The Information, Nvidia and SoftBank have each completed the final $10 billion investment in OpenAI's previous funding round, fulfilling their respective $30 billion investment commitments.

Meanwhile, after the release of the latest US non-farm payroll data, the market lowered its bets on a Fed rate hike in October, leading to a general rise in technology stocks and further boosting Nvidia's stock price.

This rebound has seen a cumulative increase of approximately 23% since the low point at the end of July, pushing Nvidia's year-to-date gains to around 25%. The company's market capitalization is currently around $5.6 trillion, less than $400 billion away from the historic $6 trillion mark. If it surpasses that level, Nvidia will become the first publicly traded company in history to reach a market capitalization of $6 trillion.

Buybacks and Investments: Multiple Positive Factors Support the Rebound

On the fundamental front, Nvidia announced on Monday that it would expand its stock repurchase authorization by $150 billion , the largest single increase in its history, bringing the total size of its repurchase program to $235 billion, with the program expected to be completed by fiscal year 2028.

This move conveys to the market management's strong confidence in the company's long-term value and is seen as an important anchor for the continued support of the stock price.

At the same time, Nvidia and SoftBank jointly completed their investment commitment to OpenAI, further solidifying Nvidia's market recognition as a core player in the AI industry chain. Nvidia is not only the biggest beneficiary of AI computing infrastructure, but is also deeply involved in building the AI ecosystem through strategic investments.

AI Security Strategy: Addressing Regulatory and Investor Concerns

Market attention to AI security risks has been rising recently. Nvidia released a new two-layer AI security system this Monday, designed to prevent aberrant behavior by AI agents.

Nvidia stated that if the system had been deployed previously, it would have been able to prevent the recent intrusion of Hugging Face by OpenAI models.

The timing of this move is quite delicate—at a time when investors are increasingly concerned about the security risks of AI technology and its potential threats to humanity, Nvidia's proactive demonstration of its security-related technological reserves helps alleviate concerns about the potential impact of AI regulatory risks on demand.

Emotional restoration: AI demand outlook back on track

The deeper driving force behind this rebound lies in the gradual return of market confidence in the prospects for AI infrastructure demand.

Over the past few months, market sentiment surrounding AI has shifted rapidly, with the core debate revolving around whether the hundreds of billions of dollars that tech giants have invested in AI infrastructure can translate into real returns.

Recent breakthroughs in application layers, exemplified by Meta's AI agent Muse, have reignited market optimism that AI agent applications will significantly boost chip demand, further restoring investor confidence in Nvidia's medium- to long-term growth trajectory.

Currently, Nvidia's stock price has risen by about 25% year-to-date, and it is on track to record double-digit growth for the fourth consecutive year.

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