Nvidia (NVDA)

Nvidia has shed more than $500bn (£433bn) in market value since briefly becoming the world's most valuable company last week

Nvidia stock price today: Shares fell again in pre-market trading on Monday after shedding $550bn in market value last week following a record high valuation

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) fell again in pre-market trading on Monday after the semiconductor manufacturer shed more than $550bn (£433bn) in market value last week.

The stock price dropped by almost 7% on Monday morning, continuing a sell-off that began after the company briefly became the world’s most valuable firm on Thursday.

Nvidia shares were trading down by 2.2%, or $14.36, at $631.64 before the opening bell.

It comes as many investors are thought to be taking profits after Nvidia’s valuation surged by more than $1trn this year alone.

The sell-off began after Nvidia reached a record high valuation of $3.4trn on Thursday, surpassing Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) to become the most valued company in the world.

However, by the close of trading on Friday the company's market capitalisation had dropped to $2.91trn.

David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said: “Some profit-taking here seems entirely reasonable given NVIDIA’s meteoric rise.

“The stock was up over 180% this year alone. But if it continues to lose ground, then there’s a danger of contagion, with selling spreading to other big tech names. If that were the case, then the market could be in for a deeper and more protracted pull-back.

“Yet, there are few indications that investors are even thinking along these lines.”

Another factor weighing on Nvidia is that CEO Jensen Huang has been selling stock this month, through a trading plan. That has focused attention on whether the stock was somewhat overvalued.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: “The stellar rise of tech and AI-related stocks in particular inevitably gets to the stage where investors pause for breath and recalculate valuation levels.”

The AI darling recently became the third company ever to achieve a market valuation of more than $3tn, surpassing Apple and Microsoft to become the most valued company in the world.

Its market capitalisation has now dropped to $2.91trn (£2.29trn).