The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is determined from the closing prices of 30 blue chip stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Nasdaq).

This is an important measure of the stock market and partly reflects the "health" of the world's largest economy.

nvidia bloomberg
Nvidia shares have risen sharply since 2023. Photo: Bloomberg

Starting November 8, Nvidia will replace Intel in the list of 30 blue chip stocks, showing the change of throne taking place in the semiconductor industry.

Nvidia shares are up 170% in 2024 after rising nearly 240% in 2023. The semiconductor company's market capitalization is more than $3.3 trillion, second only to Apple.

Companies like Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Amazon are buying Nvidia GPUs like the H100 in large quantities to build AI training clusters. The company says demand for its next-generation AI GPU, the Blackwell, is “insane.”

With Nvidia’s addition, four of the world’s six trillion-dollar tech companies are now in the Dow Jones. The two names that aren’t are Meta and Alphabet.

Intel’s story is in stark contrast to Nvidia’s. Once the world’s dominant computer chipmaker, Intel has lost market share to AMD and has yet to make significant progress in AI.

Intel shares have lost more than half their value this year as the company faces manufacturing challenges and new competition in the CPU space. Intel has just approved plans to lay off 16,500 workers and downsize its real estate footprint.

This is the first change in the Dow Jones index since February, when Amazon replaced Walgreen Boots Alliance.

(According to CNBC)