A year ago, Nvidia (NVDA 0.68%) was battling Apple to be the largest company by market cap. The chipmaker was worth over $3 trillion, and it was expensive, trading at over 50 times trailing sales.
There was an argument that with its huge market cap and high valuation, Nvidia wasn't a winning investment anymore. Let's see how you would've done if you'd invested in it anyway.
Image source: Nvidia.
How much a $500 investment in Nvidia would've grown
If you'd invested $500 in Nvidia one year ago, you'd now have $674 (as of Nov. 10). Even with how successful the company already was, Nvidia stock has gone up another 35%. It's not the kind of spectacular returns shareholders were getting earlier during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but it's nothing to complain about, either.
A $500 investment in the S&P 500, on the other hand, would now be worth $570. The market index has gone up 14% over the last year. However, because the S&P 500 is far more diversified, it's less volatile. Nvidia has outperformed it over the last year, but the company's stock also fell quite a bit more during the stock market sell-off in April.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
As Nvidia demonstrates, large-cap stocks and the largest companies in the world can still deliver market-beating returns. While they may not be as exciting as smaller stocks, it's good to have these large, proven companies in your portfolio.
