Nvidia enters correction territory as slump erases $400 billion
Company briefly claimed the title of the world's largest stock last week
Nvidia Corp. shares fell on Monday, with the AI-focused chipmaker entering correction territory as it extends a sharp recent selloff.
The stock fell 4.8 per cent and is on track for its third straight negative session. It has dropped 12 per cent over the three-day slide, putting it past the 10 per cent threshold that represents a correction. The drop weighed on chipmakers with the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index falling as much as 2.2 per cent on Monday. Broadcom Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Qualcomm Inc. were all lower by at least 2 per cent.
The three-day drop erased more than $400 billion from Nvidia's market capitalization, putting it back below the $3 trillion threshold, as well as below both Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. in size. Nvidia briefly claimed the title as the world's largest stock last week.
"In the near-term, it is plausible that investors begin suffering from AI-fatigue or become more broadly concerned about index concentration," said Neville Javeri, portfolio manager and head of the Empiric LT Equity team at Allspring Global Investments.
Even with the slump, Nvidia remains up more than 140 per cent this year, making it the second-best performer among S&P 500 Index components, behind Super Micro Computer Inc., another favorite AI play.
The stock suffered a drawdown of about 20 per cent earlier this year, although it quickly returned to all-time highs.
While investors have flocked to Nvidia given the sky-high demand for its chips used in AI processing, the scale of Nvidia's rally — it also soared about 240 per cent over the course of 2023 — has underlined concerns about its valuation. The stock trades at nearly 23 times estimated sales over the next 12 months, making it the most expensive in the S&P 500 by this measure. Still, it remains well liked on Wall Street. Nearly 90 per cent of the analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying, and the average analyst price target points to upside of about 10 per centfrom current levels.
"The momentum in Nvidia and AI stocks in general has been staggering," said Charlie Ashley, portfolio manager at Catalyst Funds. "In terms of investing, I would not be a contrarian right now."