The AI arms race just crowned its first $5.5 trillion company – Nvidia has officially outpaced Google and Apple setting the unprecedented valuation record. At the same time, the world’s most valuable chipmaker is still locked out of the market that could make that number look small. China that used to be one of Nvidia’s largest and most significant growth markets before U.S. export restrictions began, now brings the AI chip giant zero revenue. Yet, investors grow hopeful as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will reportedly join President Trump’s upcoming Beijing delegation.
AI chip maker Nvidia hit an all-time high on May 13, 2026, simultaneously becoming the most valuable company in the world and the first enterprise globally to ever reach the valuation mark of $5.5 trillion.
Despite the record valuation, in April 2026 NVDA stock is growing slower compared to industry peers. Nvidia shares gained only 14% last month, while the semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rallied 40% — having its best month on record. AMD surged roughly 90% and Micron climbed approximately 76% over the same stretch. Analysts point to absence of China sales as the reason for this relative NVDA lag.
Why Nvidia is not profiting from China presence
U.S. export restrictions against China that now prevent U.S. companies from selling their products to Chinese consumers and entities escalated significantly in recent years. The tensions between two world leaders started in 2018 with tariffs, and later shifted to intense technology-focused controls from 2020 onward, reaching new peaks in 2025 and 2026. Before U.S. export restrictions escalated, Nvidia controlled roughly 95% of China’s advanced AI chip market, with China accounting for at least one-fifth of its data center revenue. Today, Nvidia’s China revenue equals zero. CFO Colette Kress confirmed the company no longer includes China in its baseline forecasts too.
The company’s financial damage due to export restrictions is seen in the latest report. In fiscal Q1 2026, Nvidia faced a $4.5 billion charge tied to its H20 chip inventory and purchase obligations. In the second quarter, more $8B are expected to be erased from earlier forecast H20 revenue.
Because of the China-linked underperformance, Nvidia has already saw its valuation hit hard. In January 2025, Nvidia’s market capitalization decreased by almost $600 billion in a single day, which is a record one-day drop in the history of companies based in the United States. Muted investor reaction followed even the latest record earnings results announced in March. Despite Nvidia reporting revenue of $68 billion, up 73% year-over-year, exceeding both its own forecast of $65 billion and Wall Street expectations, its shares fell as much as 5%, reflecting market concerns about the sustainability of company’s growth, especially with limited market potential.
Top 10 most valuable companies globally as of May 2026
Nvidia CEO is going to Beijing. What is the purpose?
Current growth is largely attributed to the news that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will join President Trump’s trip to China Summit in Beijing.
“This is an incredible opportunity for me to represent the United States of course, and to come support President Trump in one of the most important summits in human history,” Huang told reporters on Thursday.
Reportedly, Huang was not originally included in Trump’s Beijing delegation, which featured Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon. After media flagged his absence, Trump called him directly and asked him to join, with Huang flying to Alaska to board Air Force One mid-journey. However, the U.S. President denied the last-minute call and stated that Nvidia CEO was on the list from the start.
Whatever the case, Huang now has the chance to negotiate the company’s position in the Chinese market. The tech executive believes using Nvidia AI chip stack in China is a matter of market dominance rather than corporate revenues. ““We want to make sure that all the AI developers in the world are developing on the American tech stack,” recently said Huang in a podcast conversation. He also warned that every Chinese developer who switches to Huawei’s Ascend chips weakens Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem globally, saying: “It would be extremely foolish to create two ecosystems.”
In press comments, Trump framed his “first request” to Xi as opening China to U.S. businesses, so having the CEO of the world’s most valuable company whose estimated $50 billion annual data center business with China was effectively cut off, while the company’s product sits at the center of the global AI race, physically present sends a signal about discussions at stake.
Experts will be attentively looking forward to Nvidia fiscal Q1 2027 earnings report scheduled on May 20, 2026, just after the Trump-Xi summit concludes. Investors will presumably focus on any commentary about China, particularly the one about the stalled H200 program status. If any progress in China market reopening is announced, that could push further market cap estimates significantly higher.
The article was updated on May 20, 2026 with the top companies ranking by market cap.
