Chip companies Micron and SK Hynix have been the latest companies to reach valuations of $1 trillion dollars, joining just 13 other names including Nvidia and Apple.
Shares in semiconductor outfit Marvell Technology soared recently when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested it could join the trillon dollar club.
It's an undeniable sign of success, even if the difference between $999 billion and $1 trillion doesn’t make any real difference to a company’s prospects, but for investors that are now looking to jump on the bandwagon, there could be a chance the period of highest growth is already over.
Trillion-dollar club members Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Tesla grew their valuations by an average 430% in the 36 months to their trillion-dollar mark. But in the 36 months following, that growth slowed to 107%, based on calculations by AJ Bell and data from Refinitiv. Although other companies have now joined this group, their entrance has been more recent, and it’s unclear how they will fare in the long term.
Given that Nvidia now has a valuation of more than $5 trillion, it’s clearly not the end of the growth for everyone, and by most standards, 107% growth in three years is impressive. Each company will have a different journey, and because the marker is so hard to reach, there’s quite a limited sample size of companies to look at. In addition, the first company to reach the mark, Apple, did so in just 2018.
But what the companies that have hit $1 trillion so far have shown us is it’s not simply smooth sailing from there. In fact, the $1 trillion benchmark seems to be followed by a stutter for some companies before taking off to new heights.
Apple, for example, hit its $1 trillion valuation for the first time in September 2018. But it was back in the billions two months later and didn’t move through $1 trillion until November of 2019. Tesla had a similar issue, hitting $1 trillion in November 2021, before falling out in 2022. This time, it took another two years, until 2024, to reach $1 trillion again. Eli Lilly, which reached $1 trillion in November 2025, has bumped in and out of the group ever since.
It’s not the story for all companies. Microsoft carried on after $1 trillion, as did Google-parent Alphabet, though it notably dipped back 8 months later. Nvidia has climbed far above the $1 trillion heights it reached three years ago to quintuple its market cap now.
Microns’ growth spurt
Micron’s story above $1 trillion might be different than some of those examples, especially because of its rapid rise to reach it.
At the beginning of this year, Micron was likely not on the watchlist for those anticipating the next trillion-dollar valuation. In fact, it wasn’t even a third of the way, with a valuation of $321 billion at the start of 2026. But it happens to be a producer of something very important to an increasingly large AI presence: data storage. Many of its largest customers are leaders in the AI space (and fellow trillion-dollar club members), including Nvidia and Apple.
Micron's trajectory and integration with the AI theme may remind some investors of Nvidia, who notably had little falter at the trillion mark, or the two, three, or four trillion for that matter. It did, however, feel some pullback after reaching $5 trillion last November, a number which may have felt intimidating to investors.
Micron has seen a similar rapid rise, as its share price has risen 232% in the first five months of the year. But this kind of rise can make investors wary. While Micron seems essential to the AI supply chain for now, there’s a chance its stock could fall as fast as it rose if new competition emerges.
SK Hynix’s rise to the trillion
SK Hynix, the other company to reach £1 trillion lately, is one such threat. It is another data storage creator, located in Korea instead of the US. It’s narrowly edged out Micron’s share price growth this year, at 249%, and works with many of the same companies including Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon.
One disadvantage to the company in the future may be that it is located overseas, while Micron is in the US. This means that in the case of tariffs, it could be put at a disadvantage to some of its main buyers versus US companies. However, for the moment its forward price to earnings ratio is slightly more favourable than Micron, at 8.4 to Micron’s 10.8. It’s worth noting that this industry is highly cyclical, so this could shift quite dramatically in the future.
The up-and-comers
The first group of companies to reach the $1 trillion point seemed to have faster growth in the buildup than after, so it may make sense to look at the companies on the cusp. Two standouts at the moment are JPMorgan and Oracle, who currently have market valuations of $795 billion and $714 billion, respectively.
JPMorgan tells a very different story than the likes of SK Hynix and Micron. In the past year, its share price has grown by 12%. While banking is a cyclical industry, its growth story has been much steadier. The only finance company currently valued above a trillion is Berkshire Hathaway, reaching the mark in 2024. Since then, it has dipped in and out and still sits barely inside at a $1.01 trillion valuation at the beginning of June 2026.
Oracle, however, is more tightly linked to the AI theme, and as of 3 June, is up 17% this year. The company creates database software, used by governments, airlines, and its largest customer, Microsoft. Instead of aiding in the back end of AI production, like SK Hynix and Micron, Oracle will be more involved as AI makes its way into businesses, acting to categorise and secure data. The business has spooked some shareholders because it has financed much of its data centre expenditure through debt, but the company posted strong earnings and revenue in its March update. Its next update will come on Wednesday 10 June.
Hannah Williford: Investment Writer
Hannah joined AJ Bell in 2025 as an investment writer. She was previously a journalist at Portfolio Adviser Magazine, reporting on multi-asset, fixed income and equity funds, as well as macroeconomic impacts and regulatory changes...
