We recently compiled a list of the 11 Best Computer Hardware Stocks to Invest in Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) stands against the other computer hardware stocks.
What’s Driving the Computer Hardware Industry?
According to a report by Research and Markets, the international IT hardware market was valued at $130.86 billion in the current year. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.86% to reach $191.03 billion by 2029. One of the key factors driving the computer hardware industry has been the rise of artificial intelligence in personal computers and notebooks. According to a March 18 report by Canalys, around 48 million AI PCs are expected to be shipped during 2024, representing 18% of the total PC shipments. The report highlights that this is just the beginning of a major market transition, as AI PC shipments are expected to exceed 100 million next year, accounting for more than 40% of all PC shipments.
In a recent statement, Ishan Dutt, Principal Analyst at Canalys emphasized the transformative potential of AI-capable personal computers. He forecasts that the proliferation of AI-accelerating silicon will lead to the shipment of over 150 million AI-capable PCs by the end of 2025. These devices are expected to enhance user experiences significantly through dedicated on-device AI capabilities, which will drive productivity gains and enable personalized device interactions at scale. Additionally, Dutt highlighted that these PCs will offer improved power efficiency, stronger security, and reduced costs associated with executing AI workloads locally rather than relying on cloud services.
Moreover, Kieren Jessop, another analyst at Canalys, added that this shift towards AI-capable PCs is likely to result in a 10% to 15% price premium compared to standard PCs without integrated Neural Processing Units (NPUs). By 2025, it is anticipated that over half of PCs priced at $800 or more will feature AI capabilities, projected to exceed 80% by 2028. This trend is expected to significantly increase the overall market value of PC shipments, rising from $225 billion in 2024 to over $270 billion by 2028.
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These latest AI PCs have actively helped recover global PC shipments, thereby uplifting the overall computer hardware industry. According to a report by IDC published on October 8, global PC shipments dropped 2.4% during Q3 2024, however, this indicated a recovery as the shipments had dropped by around 14% and 16.5% in Q3 of 2023 and 2022, respectively. According to Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC, there is a clear resurgence in demand for PCs among both consumers and commercial buyers. However, this demand is still predominantly focused on entry-level models, spurred by the recovering economy and seasonal back-to-school purchases in North America. The anticipated arrival of AI-enabled PCs, such as Copilot+ models and upcoming offerings from other major hardware companies, is expected to invigorate the premium segment in the near future.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 11 best computer hardware stocks to invest in right now, we used the Finviz stock screener to get a preliminary list of computer hardware companies sorted by market cap. Next, we researched to check if the companies were pure play. Our criteria to call a company pure play was to check if the majority source of revenue for the company came through its operations in the computer hardware industry. Lastly, we ranked our shortlisted stocks in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders as of the third quarter of 2024, sourced from Insider Monkey’s database.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Hardware
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 193
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is the best computer hardware stock to invest in right now. Previously, the company was known for revolutionizing the gaming market with its Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Currently, it is a leader in AI infrastructure with its GPUs powering data centers, autonomous driving, and robots.
The company still generates handsome revenue from its Gaming segment. It generated $3.8 billion from the segment during the fiscal third quarter of 2025, up 15% year-over-year. However, its GPU application within the data center industry is the real game changer. Data Center revenues were up 112%, standing at $35.1 billion. The segment revenue even topped management’s expectation of $32.5 billion.
That’s not it, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) has been continuously upgrading its GPU portfolio to cater to the growing need for its products in the AI and data center industry. On March 18, the company unveiled the Blackwell platform marking a significant advancement in AI computing technology. The Blackwell architecture includes the GB200 GPU, which is recognized as one of the most powerful chips available right now. The demand for its Blackwell and Hopper platform led the Data Center revenue growth with its H200 GPU sales increasing to double-digit billions of dollars. Management categorized it as the fastest product ramp-up in its history.
Ithaka Group’s Ithaka US Growth Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is the market leader in visual computing through the production of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs). The company targets four large and growing markets: Gaming, Professional Visualization, Data Center, and Automotive. NVIDIA’s products have the potential to lead and disrupt some of the most exciting areas of computing, including: data center acceleration, artifi cial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and autonomous driving. The reason for the stock’s appreciation in the quarter was twofold: First, the stock benefi ted from tremendous excitement surrounding the further development of generative AI and the likelihood this would necessitate the purchase of a large number of Nvidia’s products far into the future; Second, Nvidia posted another strong beat[1]and-raise quarter, where the company upped its F2Q25 revenue guidance above Street estimates, showcasing its dominant position in the buildout of today’s accelerated computing infrastructure.”
Overall, NVDA ranks 1st on our list of the best computer hardware stock to invest in right now. While we acknowledge the potential of NVDA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVDA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
