Jan 03, 2017

Question: What Company Was Strongest Performer in the S&P500 In 2016?

Choices:

A. Amazon

B. Google

C. Tesla

D. Nvidia

Answer: Drumroll please…a company most have never heard of, D. Nvidia!

From Financial Times:

Soaring expectations for artificial intelligence may have threatened to tip over into tech industry hype this year, but they have thrown up at least one clear winner: chipmaker Nvidia, which has ridden a late-year rally to make it the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 by a wide margin. Like Levi Strauss, who made his fortune selling goods to miners during the California gold rush rather than doing the mining himself, Nvidia has become a key supplier to all the leading tech companies involved in deep learning, the current state of the art in AI.

Questions for students (requires reading the FT article):

  • What are some examples of products that use AI (artificial intelligence)?
  • What products does Nvidia sell now? Where is their strongest growth markets?
  • Why have “expectations” for Nvidia soared so much recently? Do you think other competitors (like Intel) will notice?
  • Would you invest in Nvidia since it performed so well in 2016? Why or why not?

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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