Nvidia sheds roughly $1 trillion in value, hitting its cheapest multiple since 2019

Nvidia has shed roughly $1 trillion in market value in less than two months, dragging its stock to about 18 times projected next-12-month earnings — the cheapest valuation for the chipmaker since early 2019.

The slide reflects Wall Street doubts about whether the pace of AI infrastructure spending can hold, and whether the returns on that spending justify the buildout. Investors have started pricing Nvidia less like the sole winner of the AI boom and more like a cyclical semiconductor stock.

The weakness is specific to Nvidia rather than the sector. Its shares are up only about 5.6% in 2026, trailing the S&P 500’s 9.6% gain and the Nasdaq 100’s 16% rise. Over the same stretch the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has jumped roughly 74%, led by other chipmakers — Micron is up about 229% on the year.

The broader picture is more turbulent. A wider semiconductor selloff has erased more than $1 trillion in sector market value amid doubts about the return on AI infrastructure, comparisons to dot-com-era valuations and a hawkish Federal Reserve. Intel shares fell sharply in the same rout.

A cheaper multiple is not proof that Nvidia’s business has deteriorated. Compression on this scale can reflect a rotation out of a crowded trade or a reset in sentiment rather than a change in demand, and the company has not reported a slowdown in orders. Whether the derating marks a buying opportunity or the start of a longer repricing will not be clear until Nvidia’s next set of results tests the AI-capex thesis directly.