Nvidia, the technology company that designs graphics processing units for the gaming and professional markets, has now become the seventh-largest U.S. company. The feat also means that it has overtaken Meta‘s place in that list. And with Facebook currently going down on a slippery slope, it doesn’t look too good for the company.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, a reshuffling among the ranks of the “most valuable U.S. companies” reflects Nvidia’s ascent over the past few years, with a market value of USD 618.2 billion. There’s also a drop with Meta, as the company closed with a market value of USD 612.2 billion. Shares of Nvidia ended up 1.7%, while Facebook’s stock lost 5.1%.
Nvidia is currently the world’s second most valuable chipmaker. Back in September of 2020, Nvidia announced they’re buying over the UK-based chip designer ARM Holdings from Japan’s Softbank for USD 40 billion—before the company announced in January that it no longer expects to close the deal. It was also the 15th-largest U.S. company as of a year ago and the 50th largest as of two years ago. This is the first time that the company is able to overtake Meta.
As for Meta, we reported that Facebook’s daily user numbers had fallen for the first time in its 18-year history. According to Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it’s because of “apps like TikTok” that are “growing very quickly”. But there are speculations that the whistleblower allegations—revealing that the Facebook algorithm is used easily to spread hate, violence, and misinformation—are a huge part of why their users have dropped.
It was also reported just yesterday that Meta might even pull both Facebook and Instagram from the whole of Europe. This was because of a ruling by the European court of justice, where they found insufficient safeguards against snooping by U.S. intelligence agencies. Facebook said that enforcing the ban would “leave the company unable to operate”. But if this decision becomes a reality, there’s no easy way for Meta to gain its higher placement back in the list of largest U.S. companies.
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