Nvidia Stock Rises. What It Needs to Break Apple’s Market Cap Record.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The chip maker is on the brink of breaking Apple’s market capitalization record. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Nvidia stock was rising ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, putting the artificial-intelligence chip designer on the brink of a record-breaking valuation.

Shares climbed 0.9% to $159.71 in premarket trading. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were up 0.1%.

If its stock can finish the session at or above $160.46, Nvidia would pass the record $3.915 trillion closing market capitalization that Apple closed at in late December, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Shares would need to rise to $163.93 to make the semiconductor maker the first company ever to reach a $4 trillion valuation.

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Nvidia stock has been rallying since late April on the expectation that the surge in demand for AI will carry on boosting its earnings. Investors seem to have gotten over the worst of their fears about U.S. trade policies, even though CEO Jensen Huang warned in May that curbs on chip exports to China could dent sales by $15 billion.

Other semiconductor stocks were also rising on Tuesday. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 1.6%, Broadcom gained 0.8%, Intel added 0.6%, and Qualcomm climbed 0.4% ahead of the opening bell.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com