How to trade Nvidia stocks

Learn about semiconductor superstar Nvidia and how to trade it: find out its company story, which stock exchange it's listed on and how to trade Nvidia shares via CFDs or spread betting with Capital.com.

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What is Nvidia?

Founded in 1993, Nvidia is a global technology company known for its graphics processing units (GPUs). Nvidia has a presence in AI, data science, data centres, automated vehicles, mobile devices and video gaming.

Nvidia designs and sells its products, but doesn’t manufacture them – a model known as ‘fabless’. Instead, the company outsources fabrication to third-parties and focuses a large portion of its resources on innovation – in fact, in the fiscal year ending January 2024, Nvidia spent almost 77% of total operating expenses on R&D.

Some of the largest ‘big tech’ companies – including Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft and Alphabet (formerly Google) – are Nvidia customers, making up almost half of Nvidia’s revenue.

In 2024, Nvidia surpassed Apple and Microsoft as the largest company by market capitalisation for the first time.

What is Nvidia’s share price history?

Nvidia was listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol NVDA in 1999, selling 3.5 million shares priced at $12 each, totaling $42 million. Nvidia’s post-IPO share price grew with the release of products like the GeForce 256 chip, and later the GeForce 2 and GeForce 3. 

Market sentiment for technology stocks declined when the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, which caused a fall in Nvidia’s share price. But investor confidence in Nvidia remained high. Growing demand for GPUs drove the company to execute its first 2-for-1 stock splits in 2000 and 2001, to make the shares more accessible.

2005 marked the release of the GeForce 7, Nvidia’s partnership with Sony to produce GPUs for its Playstation 3 console. Substantial growth in Nvidia’s share price saw the chipmaker splitting its stock 2 for 1 in 2006, then 3 for 1 in 2007.

In 2010 – during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis – Nvidia’s share price fell, and this continued through the following year. Nvidia recovered between 2011 and 2012, and its share price grew steadily as it strengthened its portfolio of GPU and software products across gaming, mobile and high-performance computing (HPC). 

Nvidia products were in unexpectedly high demand from members of the cryptocurrency community, following the discovery that GPUs are an efficient tool for mining bitcoin. Demand outpaced supply and led to shortages, driving up GPU prices whilst Nvidia share price steadily increased between 2011-2018. But following the rise of alternative methods for crypto mining and the bitcoin crash, Nvidia share price dropped significantly in September 2018.

The Covid-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise for Nvidia’s share price, which grew quickly in 2019-2021. With many of its retail customers being ordered to stay at home, demand for video games – and the GPUs to play them – skyrocketed along with share price, which hit a peak in late 2021. Technology market volatility and global semiconductor shortages contributed to a sharp share price correction that dragged Nvidia stock value downwards in late 2021, lasting for almost a year.

Nvidia share price growth accelerated in September 2022. The company’s push into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing was paying off, as demand for these technologies took off. Nvidia had also abandoned a proposed acquisition of ARM Holdings, leading to some volatility in 2023 due to concerns around Nvidia sustaining its rapid business growth. 

Nvidia share price grew rapidly in the first half of 2024. The company briefly had the largest market capitalisation in the world in early June – surpassing fellow tech giant Microsoft. In June 2024, Nvidia executed a 10-for-1 stock split.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

What factors might affect the Nvidia live share price?

Nvidia’s share price can be affected by a range of events. Here are a few of the main things to bear in mind.  

• Fabless company: as a ‘fabless’ company, Nvidia designs its own chips and outsources production to third-party manufacturers. This can introduce challenges in quality control and supply chain visibility that could impact fiscal performance and the share price.

• Supply chain: while Nvidia isn’t a manufacturer, the company is still exposed to supply chain risks. Geopolitical and macroeconomic factors affecting the supply of semiconductors – like the billions of transistors found in GPUs – could have an effect on share price growth.

• New product launches: as a designer and innovator, Nvidia’s share price responds to the commercial success of its product releases. Success can depend on a number of factors, including pricing, competition, new features and durability.

• Acquisitions and mergers: Nvidia’s growth can be attributed in part to its history of acquisitions. When a company announces a new acquisition, it may boost market confidence and signal growth – one of the most significant examples being Nvidia’s acquisition of Mellanox Technologies in 2019. Conversely, a failed acquisition bid could have a negative impact on market sentiment.

• Sales performance/market expectations: with its large market capitalisation, Nvidia is a widely speculated stock, and its share price can be heavily influenced by commercial performance. If the company’s quarterly earnings report surpasses market expectations, there may be an uptick in buying. Conversely, a failure to meet these targets could result in increased sell orders.

What are Nvidia’s trading hours?

Nvidia’s stock market trading hours are the same as the Nasdaq Stock Market, which it trades on – Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 4pm (New York time), or 2.30pm to 9.00pm (UTC).

You can follow the Nvidia stock performance with our Nvidia share price chart.

Monitoring the company’s activity can help you to keep an eye out for the effects of any fundamental or technical events that may affect short-term movements in the share price.

How to trade Nvidia stock

If you want to take a position on Nvidia shares, you have two options. First, you can buy physical shares in the company through the exchange on which it’s listed. Investing in Nvidia stocks means you will own a share, or shares, in the company. 

Alternatively, you can trade a derivative product such as a contract for difference (CFD) or spread bet on the underlying Nvidia stock market price, and speculate on its price movements without actually owning the asset. A CFD is a financial contract, typically between a broker and a trader, where one party agrees to pay the other the difference in the value of a security, between the opening and closing of the trade.

Unlike physical share ownership, you can take a CFD position whether you think the price will rise (called ‘going long’) or fall (called ‘going short’), giving you an opportunity to trade even if the share price is going down. 

Another key difference is that CFDs are traded on margin, which means that you can get exposure to larger positions with a relatively small outlay. This means that both your profits and losses can be amplified, making CFD trading risky. You can learn how to trade shares using CFDs in our comprehensive guide to shares trading.

To trade Nvidia stock CFDs or spread bets with us, just sign up for a Capital.com account. Once you’re verified, you can use our easy-to-use web platform or mobile app.

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