Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) was one of the top stocks in 2023, rising 239%. While some thought this may have been Nvidia's ceiling, that has been far from the truth. In just under a month in 2024, Nvidia has already risen 21%, giving the impression that 2024 could be a repeat year for the stock.

However, much of the optimism baked into the stock ignores an ugly truth about Nvidia that many people forget: It's a cyclical company. So, what can investors expect in the next few years? Let's take a look at what history says.

Nvidia has done so well over the past year because it makes the world's most powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) suited for artificial intelligence (AI). Originally, GPUs were created to improve gaming graphics, which required significant computing power. Soon, the use of GPUs for other arduous computing tasks like AI model training, engineering simulations, drug discovery, and mapping the human genome would be sped up by using hundreds or thousands of GPUs connected together.

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Source Fool.com