Top 20 U.S. Stocks by Trading Volume: Nvidia again set a record high, with its market cap briefly topping $4 trillion.  

On Wednesday, Nvidia closed up 1.80%, hitting a historic high with a turnover of $297.63 billion. Intraday, its market cap briefly exceeded $4 trillion, nearing Japan’s 2024 GDP (609 trillion yen, approximately $4.16 trillion).  

 

Market experts attribute Nvidia’s stock surge to optimism about its AI leadership and rising demand for its chips. Joe Saluzzi, co-head of trading at Themis Trading, said, “A company hitting a $4 trillion market cap shows AI is red-hot, with every investor chasing it.”  

 

Recently, Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah raised Nvidia’s target price from $175 to $250 per share, implying a potential $6 trillion valuation.  

 

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives predicts Nvidia’s market cap could reach $5 trillion in the next 18 months, citing strong tech performance in H2 2025. He bases this on $2 trillion in AI-related spending by businesses and governments over three years, which he believes investors underestimate.  

 

However, famed short-seller Jim Chanos warns the AI hype echoes the early 2000s internet bubble. He suggests a market contraction could cut capital spending, stalling projects, with impacts quickly visible in revenue and guidance. Though not imminent, he says many underestimate this risk.  

 

Second-place Tesla fell 0.65%, with a turnover of $221.96 billion. After two years leading Elon Musk’s social media company X, Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation as CEO on Wednesday via X.  

 

Yaccarino’s exit follows a day after controversy over the Grok chatbot pushing anti-Semitic content, though any link remains unclear.  

 

This comes months after Musk sold X to his AI firm xAI, merging the closely tied companies and sparking speculation about Yaccarino’s role in the new structure.  In her X post, Yaccarino thanked Musk for entrusting her with “defending free speech, turning the company around, and making X a super app.”  

 

She added, “As X and xAI begin a new chapter with a bright future, I’ll cheer you all on as you change the world.”  

 

Third-place Apple rose 0.54%, with a turnover of $101.89 billion. Reports suggest Apple plans to launch an upgraded Vision Pro as early as 2025.  

 

Fourth-place Palantir gained 2.45%, with a turnover of $95.72 billion, buoyed by strong recent earnings and outlook.  

 

Fifth-place Microsoft rose 1.39%, with a turnover of $93.65 billion. Insider sources say Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff noted AI tools boost productivity across sales, customer service, and software engineering.  

 

Despite this, AI saved Microsoft over $500 million in call centers last year, enhancing employee and customer satisfaction. Althoff added the company is using AI for small-client interactions, yielding tens of millions, though still early-stage.  

 

Sixth-place Amazon rose 1.45%, with a turnover of $84.53 billion. Amazon extended its Prime Day from two to four days this year, aiming to give shoppers more time, but initial results disappointed, increasing pressure for the remaining days.  

 

Seventh-place Meta Platforms gained 1.68%, with a turnover of $83.5 billion. Insiders reveal Meta spent €3 billion ($3.5 billion) to acquire a 3% stake in EssilorLuxottica, boosting its AI smart glasses push. Meta may raise its stake to 5%, though plans could shift. CEO Mark Zuckerberg called smart glasses key to AI and immersive experiences.  

 

Eighth-place Google A-class shares rose 1.30%, with a turnover of $75.89 billion. Google launched its Gemini AI assistant on Wear OS watches Wednesday, fulfilling a May preview after nearly two months. It also enhanced “Circle to Search” with AI mode integration and game query support.  

 

Ninth-place Verona Pharma surged 20.62%, with a turnover of $68.8 billion. Merck announced a $10 billion acquisition of the UK biopharma Verona Pharma to strengthen its COPD drug lineup.  

 

The deal sees Merck’s subsidiary buying Verona’s ADS at $107 each, a 23.2% premium over Tuesday’s $86.86 close, totaling about $10 billion per the joint statement.  

 

Twelfth-place Strategy rose 4.65%, with a turnover of $52.53 billion. An 8-K filing with the SEC revealed $14.05 billion in unrealized Bitcoin gains as of June 30, 2025, with $4.04 billion in deferred taxes. The company holds 597,325 BTC, valued at $64.36 billion, with an average cost of $70,982.  

 

Seventeenth-place Boeing gained 3.70%, with a turnover of $37.29 billion. Boeing reported 60 plane deliveries in June, its best in 18 months, reflecting production improvements. Q2 totaled 150 deliveries, with 280 commercial planes delivered in H1 2025, alongside 668 jet orders (43 canceled or converted).  

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