(Reuters) -Nvidia ( NVDA ) was on track to become the most valuable company in history on Thursday, with the chipmaker's market capitalization reaching $3.92 trillion as Wall Street doubled down on optimism about AI.

Shares of the leading designer of high-end AI chips were up 2.2% at $160.6 in morning trading, giving the company a higher market capitalization than Apple's ( AAPL ) record closing value of $3.915 trillion on December 26, 2024.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) newest chips have made gains in training the largest artificial-intelligence models, fueling demand for products by the Santa Clara, California, tech company. 

Microsoft ( MSFT ) is currently the second-most valuable company on Wall Street, with a market capitalization of $3.7 trillion as its shares rose 1.4% on $498. 

Apple ( AAPL ) rose 0.5%, giving it a stock market value of $3.19 trillion, in third place.

A race among Microsoft ( MSFT ), Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Tesla to build AI data centers and dominate the emerging technology has fueled insatiable demand for Nvidia's ( NVDA ) high-end processors.

The stock market value of Nvidia ( NVDA ), whose core technology was developed to power video games, has nearly octupled over the past four years from $500 billion in 2021.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) is now worth more than the combined value of the Canadian and Mexican stock markets, according to LSEG data. The tech company also exceeds the total value of all publicly listed companies in the United Kingdom. 

Nvidia ( NVDA ) recently traded at about 32 times analysts' expected earnings for the next 12 months, below its average of about 41 over the past five years, according to LSEG data. That relatively modest price-to-earnings valuation reflects steadily increasing earnings estimates that have outpaced Nvidia's ( NVDA ) sizable stock gains.

The company's stock has now rebounded more than 68% from its recent closing low on April 4, when Wall Street was reeling from President Donald Trump's global tariff announcements. U.S. stocks, including Nvidia ( NVDA ), have recovered on expectations that the White House will cement trade deals to soften Trump's tariffs.