$1,000 in Nvidia vs. $1,000 in Broadcom: Which AI Chip Bet Paid Off More?

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) have been the two biggest ways to bet on the artificial intelligence (AI) chip boom, and both have made long-term shareholders a great deal of money. But which one turned a $1,000 investment into more?

It depends entirely on when you would have put the money in.

Go back five years, and Nvidia wins. As of this writing, $1,000 invested in Nvidia in mid-2021 would be worth about $10,100 today, with dividends reinvested. The same $1,000 in Broadcom would be worth about $9,100. Both are extraordinary outcomes, roughly 9 to 10 times your money.

Shorten the window to three years, though, and the two are essentially tied at about $4,800 each.

Over the past 12 months, by contrast, Broadcom is the clear winner, turning $1,000 into roughly $1,440 versus about $1,280 for Nvidia. Nvidia's stock cooled in 2026 even as its business kept booming, while Broadcom surged.

With all of this said, the more useful question for anyone with money to invest today is which of these two looks better positioned from here.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Nvidia: still the center of the boom

Nvidia is still the center of the AI build-out. In its most recent fiscal quarter (ended in late April), revenue hit a record $81.6 billion, up 85% year over year and 20% from the prior quarter. Data center revenue of $75.2 billion climbed 92%.

For a company already generating this much, that pace of growth is remarkable. Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) remain the default hardware for training and running the largest AI models, and demand still outstrips the company's supply.

In years past, the knock on Nvidia was often valuation. However, that argument has quietly weakened. After lagging in 2026 even as earnings climbed, Nvidia now trades at about 20 times forward earnings.

That's cheaper than the broader market and, worth noting, cheaper than Broadcom. For a company growing this fast, that's arguably an unusually reasonable price.

The risks are familiar. The semiconductor cycle can turn, big customers are designing their own chips to lean less on Nvidia, and any slowdown in data center spending could hit the stock hard. But when you look at growth and price together, Nvidia's setup looks more attractive to me than it has in a while.

Broadcom: the diversified challenger

Broadcom's AI business is smaller than Nvidia's, but it's growing even faster off a lower base. Its AI chip revenue jumped 143% year over year last quarter to $10.8 billion, and management sees roughly $16 billion this quarter.

Rather than sell off-the-shelf GPUs, Broadcom designs custom AI accelerators and networking chips for a handful of the largest cloud companies -- a different, more concentrated way to profit from the same build-out.

It's also a more diversified business overall. Alongside AI chips, Broadcom sells a wide range of other semiconductors and, since acquiring VMware, a large and profitable infrastructure-software operation. Further, this week it also deepened its long relationship with Apple through a multiyear manufacturing commitment expected to exceed $30 billion.

The trade-off is valuation and concentration. Broadcom trades at about 25 times forward earnings, a premium to Nvidia, and a large chunk of its AI revenue comes from just a few customers.

Which is the better buy?

Both are excellent businesses, and over the past year, Broadcom has been the better stock. But looking forward, I'd give the edge to Nvidia.

It's growing faster and sits more squarely at the center of AI computing. And -- the part that surprises people -- it's actually the cheaper of the two on forward earnings. You're getting the faster-growing one at a lower valuation multiple.

Of course, Broadcom is a great business. It offers something Nvidia doesn't: a more diversified revenue base and a fast-growing software arm that could help soften the blow if AI chip demand ever cools. For investors who want that cushion, Broadcom is a reasonable pick, and its custom-silicon niche is a strong business in its own right.

But if I had a fresh $1,000 to put into one of these two AI chip stocks today, I'd choose Nvidia. Mostly, I'd rather own the faster-growing company at the cheaper price. The last five years rewarded both handsomely, but the next stretch, I think, tilts back toward the name that started this whole boom.

Daniel Sparks and his clients positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Broadcom, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.