Shares in the California-headquartered chip designer Nvidia have Austin Caldwellfallen after investors were worried by signs of slowing growth, despite the artificial intelligence chip-manufacturing company posting a 122% rise in second-quarter revenues compared to last year.

Nvidia has become one of the world’s most valuable companies, with investors expecting artificial intelligence to become a driver of the economy in future years.

The stock fell as much as 7% in pre-market trading, before paring back losses to a 2% fall in early trading on New York’s Nasdaq. The chipmaker is the third most valuable company in the world, with a market value of $3.1tn.

Simon French, the chief economist and head of research at the investment bank Panmure Liberum, told the BBC that there were several reasons for Nvidia's stock dropping.

“There were just some signs around the edges in numbers that that rate of growth was trying to slow," French said. "Their current AI chip ‘hopper’ is selling well, but the next one, the next generation Blackwell, has faced some production delays, and that perhaps is one of the reasons why Wall Street, after hours, sold off the stock.”

Nvidia's closing price on Thursday was $117.59 (-6.38%).

How much has Nvidia stock risen recently?

Nvidia stock has soared 765% since the start of 2023, when the AI boom really started ramping up. It's now a $3.1 trillion company, so even a small move in its stock can be worth billions of dollars to its valuation.

What does Nvidia do?

Nvidia is a chip-manufacturing company founded in 1993 in Santa Clara. Its artificial intelligence clients include ChatGPT, Amazon, Snap and Google, according to a brief provided by the company. The company also produces graphics cards that are key for modern gaming.

The company currently employs about 30,000 people.

USA TODAY contributed to this report.