Hitting a 52-week and all-time high of $164 a share (post-split basis), Nvidia NVDA became the first company in history to reach a $4 trillion market cap on Wednesday, beating Microsoft MSFT and Apple AAPL to the punch.

Lifting the Nasdaq to a new all-time high as well, Nvidia stock is up +20% year to date and has skyrocketed more than +1,400% in the last five years.

This certainly makes it a worthy topic of whether investors should buy, hold, or take profits in NVDA after hitting such a gigantic market cap.Zacks Investment Research

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Nvidia’s AV Ambitions

Being the dominant chip provider in regard to powering generative and enterprise AI, Nvidia is making a bold push into autonomous vehicle (AV) production.

Making the case for keeping NVDA in the portfolio, Nvidia’s DRIVE AI Platform is now in full production, offering a full-stack software suite that supports everything from surround perception to automated lane changes and parking for Level 2++ Vehicles (Advanced Driver Assistance) and Level 3 Vehicles (Conditional Automation).

More intriguing, Nvidia already supports Level 5 fully autonomous vehicles from a technology standpoint through its DRIVE AGX Pegasus platform, which is designed to enable full autonomy for robotaxis and driverless delivery vehicles. While no country currently allows unrestricted Level 5 vehicles on public roads, Nvidia has built a powerful ecosystem of partners across the AV industry, including the likes of General Motors GM, Toyota Motor TM, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo VLVLY, and TTM Technologies’ TTMI Jaguar Land Rover, among others.

Tracking Nvidia’s Outlook

Based on Zacks' estimates, Nvidia’s total sales are expected to soar 51% in its current fiscal year 2026 to $197.54 billion from $130.5 billion in FY25. Plus, FY27 sales are projected to increase by another 25% to $247.24 billion.

On the bottom line, Nvidia’s annual earnings are slated to soar over 40% in FY26 to $4.24 per share compared to EPS of $2.99 in FY25. More impressive, FY27 EPS is forecasted to spike another 32% to $5.59.Zacks Investment Research

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Monitoring Nvidia’s P/E Valuation

At current levels, NVDA trades at a 37.7X forward earnings multiple, which is not an overly stretched premium to the benchmark S&P 500 and offers a 17% discount to its decade-long median of 45.1X while being well below its high of 118.6X during this period. Furthermore, Nvidia is trading near its mega-cap peers, with Microsoft at a 33.1X forward earnings multiple and Apple at 29.5X.Zacks Investment Research

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Story Continues

Nvidia’s Average Zacks Price Target

Based on short-term price targets offered by 42 analysts, the Average Zacks Price Target for Nvidia stock comes to $176.98, suggesting 10% upside from its previous closing price of $160 a share and 8% higher than its all-time peak of $164.Zacks Investment Research

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NVDA Technical Analysis

Correlating with an uptrend following the broader market's historic rebound and setting up a bull run, Nvidia’s 50-Day Simple Moving Average (Green Line) has continued to climb above its 200-Day SMA (Red Line), initially intersecting at around $129 a share and are now at $137 and $131, respectively.Zacks Investment Research

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Conclusion & Final Thoughts

After soaring more than +50% in the last three months and hitting a gigantic $4 trillion market cap, Nvidia stock currently lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Although it may be tempting and wise to take some profits if needed, it certainly makes sense to keep NVDA in the portfolio from a long-term perspective.

To that point, Nvidia stock is fairly valued, and its growth and technological dominance are spilling over into the future of AV production.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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