One problem with being on top is there is often nowhere to go but down.

Nvidia’s breakneck growth over the past 18 months has definitely put the company on top—both of the burgeoning artificial-intelligence market and the stock market. The chip maker’s fiscal third-quarter report Wednesday afternoon showed annual sales crossing the $100 billion mark for the first time ever—more than double what it was generating a year ago. And the company’s $3.6 trillion market capitalization is more than $100 billion higher than that of Apple.