Will NVIDIA be the largest company in the world by market cap on December 31?

Earlier updates

The chart shows each outcome’s published likelihood, including its baseline and news adjustment at that time.

1. Aug 28, 2026 UTC — Nvidia solidified its lead with record earnings and a major partnership, keeping the current likelihood at a high 80%.; Nvidia reported record-breaking quarterly results on August 27, with revenue and profit significantly exceeding expectations, and issued its first strong annual growth forecast, directly addressing core concerns about the sustainability of its growth. Despite brief post-earnings stock volatility, shares quickly rebounded, pushing its market cap to $5.07 trillion. On the same day, Amazon announced it was tripling its Nvidia GPU orders, a multi-billion-dollar, long-term partnership that further cements Nvidia's unassailable dominance in AI computing. Taken together, this period's events all point to a continued strengthening of Nvidia's fundamentals, leaving the likelihood of it becoming the world's most valuable company unchanged.
2. Aug 29, 2026 UTC — Reports of Nvidia acquiring Hugging Face triggered a reassessment of its strategy, with the current likelihood falling from 80% to around 75%.; The sole key development this period was the report that Nvidia agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. The deal's steep valuation—roughly 86 times the target's annualized revenue—raised concerns about Nvidia's capital allocation strategy. While the acquisition aims to fortify its ecosystem by controlling a key AI distribution platform, the high price tag and the risk of undermining Hugging Face's neutrality prompted doubts about the deal's long-term value. Consequently, the likelihood of Nvidia becoming the world's largest company by year-end fell by 5.5 percentage points.
3. Aug 30, 2026 UTC — Poor performance of a leaked DLSS 5 build raised technical concerns, though the current likelihood edged up to around 76.5%.; The sole development this period was the poor showing of a leaked pre-release build of Nvidia's next-gen DLSS 5 technology. After modders injected the leaked DLL into games like Skyrim, tests on an RTX 5070 Ti recorded a frame rate collapse from 71 to 35 FPS, exposing severe optimization issues. The incident adds noise to Nvidia's technology-leadership narrative, but given the unofficial nature of the build, the reaction was muted. On balance, the strategic concerns from the previous period's Hugging Face acquisition were partially digested, and the current likelihood edged up 2 percentage points.
4. Aug 31, 2026 UTC — OpenAI's custom chip launch signals competition, with the current likelihood now at 75%, leaving the overall picture unchanged.; The most notable development this period was OpenAI unveiling its custom AI inference chip, "Jalapeño," at the Hot Chips conference. The chip demonstrated advantages in efficiency and latency over Nvidia's current flagship, directly targeting Nvidia's core data center business. While the challenge remains limited for now—the chip is not yet in production, and OpenAI explicitly stated it will continue to rely on Nvidia for training—this move undoubtedly adds uncertainty to Nvidia's long-term monopoly narrative. Overall, this news does not shake Nvidia's near-term standing, but the heightened long-term competitive concerns have led to a 1.5 percentage point decrease in the current likelihood, from 76.5% to 75%.
5. Sep 1, 2026 UTC — No new key developments this period; the current likelihood edged up to 77.5%, leaving the overall assessment unchanged.; This period entered a brief news vacuum, with no new events emerging that could directly impact NVIDIA's market-cap competition landscape. In the absence of fresh information, the current likelihood rebounded slightly from 75% in the previous period to 77.5%, primarily reflecting a digestion and reassessment of the earlier negative impact from OpenAI's competitive signal. While the long-term threat posed by OpenAI's custom chip persists, its inability to enter mass production in the short term leaves NVIDIA's dominance in the data center sector firmly intact. Consequently, the assessment for this period remains unchanged: NVIDIA's prospects of becoming the world's most valuable company by year-end are still positive, though the long-term competitive overhang has not dissipated.
6. Sep 2, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood fell to 73.5%; NVIDIA's year-end lead remains intact, but escalating export control signals introduce new downward pressure.; NVIDIA's current likelihood dipped from 77.5% to 73.5% this period, weighed down by news that the US is moving to close a loophole in AI chip controls. The Trump administration's new rules targeting indirect Chinese access to NVIDIA chips via overseas data centers threaten a key Asia-Pacific sales channel, offsetting positive signals from a massive Anthropic cloud deal and NVIDIA's investment in MediaTek. While Anthropic's $35 billion agreement with NVIDIA-backed Lambda reaffirms robust demand for its GPUs, the rekindled geopolitical risk is forcing a reassessment of the compliance hurdles to its growth. Overall, NVIDIA's dominance on the demand side remains solid, but the long-looming sword of export controls is becoming more concrete.
7. Sep 3, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood rose to 79%; NVIDIA's year-end lead remains solid, supported by the AI infrastructure investment boom.; NVIDIA's current likelihood rose from 73.5% to 79% this period, primarily buoyed by sustained large-scale investment in AI infrastructure. Oilfield services giant SLB's $4.1 billion acquisition of data center cooling firm Kelvion—a cross-sector deal—underscores strong confidence in the long-term growth of AI computing infrastructure, indirectly reinforcing NVIDIA's favorable position as the core chip supplier. While export control risks persist, the influx of capital from across the industry chain indicates that AI demand fundamentals remain robust, sufficient to offset geopolitical uncertainty in the near term.
8. Sep 4, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood edged down to 76.5%; NVIDIA's year-end lead remains solid, though short-term catalysts are lacking.; NVIDIA's current likelihood edged down slightly from 79% to 76.5% this period, a marginal move that leaves the overall assessment unchanged. NVIDIA agreed to acquire open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, a key step in expanding its software ecosystem and further strengthening its AI moat. Meanwhile, Dell reported a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders, confirming robust AI infrastructure demand from the customer side, which indirectly benefits NVIDIA as the core chip supplier. While both developments are positive, the AI investment boom had already been largely priced into the current likelihood, so they did not drive it higher.
9. Sep 5, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood edged up to 79%, further solidifying NVIDIA's year-end lead.; NVIDIA's current likelihood rebounded from 76.5% to 79% this period, continuing the previous positive trend. Although the specific event matched in this window is limited in detail, the synthesized read suggests a mild recovery in confidence regarding NVIDIA's AI dominance and its path to becoming the world's most valuable company by year-end. The positive factors from the prior period, such as the Hugging Face acquisition and Dell's record orders, continue to provide underlying support for the current assessment.
10. Sep 6, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood inched up to 79.5%, keeping NVIDIA's year-end lead steady.; NVIDIA's current likelihood edged up from 79% to 79.5% this period, a modest move reflecting a largely stable outlook. The sole matched event was NVIDIA's participation in a skilled-trades coalition launched by the Lowe's Foundation. While the partnership underscores the company's broad industrial influence, its direct bearing on the year-end market-cap race is tenuous. Overall, the period lacked new evidence strong enough to shift the judgment materially; the core logic underpinning NVIDIA's lead—its AI dominance and robust order pipeline—remained unchallenged.
11. Sep 7, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood is 74%, a slight cooling in NVIDIA's year-end lead prospects.; NVIDIA's current likelihood dipped 5.5 percentage points to 74% this period, breaking the previous steady upward trend. The only matched event was Nscale, an NVIDIA-backed AI infrastructure firm, disclosing a $103 billion contract backlog and plans for a September IPO, including a $2 billion strategic investment from NVIDIA. While this highlights NVIDIA's deep entrenchment in the AI computing ecosystem, its direct impact on the year-end market cap ranking requires time to materialize, and the large-scale investment could put short-term pressure on cash flow. Overall, the period lacked a fresh catalyst directly boosting NVIDIA's chances, leading to a slight pullback in previously accumulated optimism.
12. Sep 8, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood is 79.5%, a slight rebound in NVIDIA's year-end lead expectations amid a lack of new information.; NVIDIA's current likelihood rebounded by 2.5 percentage points to 79.5% this period, largely recovering the previous period's dip. However, no directly relevant evidence events were matched in this monitoring window. The movement reflects the fading of short-term concerns triggered by the Nscale investment case in the prior period, rather than the emergence of new, substantive positive catalysts. In the absence of fresh developments, the baseline expectation for NVIDIA's year-end lead has re-stabilized, though momentum for further upside is equally lacking.
13. Sep 9, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood is 78%, with Qualcomm's data center push creating a slight ripple in NVIDIA's lead expectations.; NVIDIA's current likelihood edged down from 79.5% to 78% this period, a shift of 1.5 percentage points. The sole high-relevance event was Qualcomm's multi-generational AI chip partnership with Amazon Web Services, which sent Qualcomm shares up 10%. This development introduces a new credible competitor into the data center AI silicon race, posing a slight challenge to the narrative of NVIDIA's long-term dominance. However, the collaboration focuses on custom inference chips and is unlikely to erode NVIDIA's training stronghold in the near term, resulting in only a marginal impact on year-end top-spot expectations.
14. Sep 10, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood is 78.5%, with no new major events in the window, expectations remain stable.; NVIDIA's current likelihood edged up from 78% to 78.5% this period, a marginal shift of 0.5 percentage points. No high-relevance events were captured in the window, leaving an information vacuum. The ripple caused by Qualcomm's data center push was absorbed in the previous period, and the lack of new catalysts has pushed the assessment of NVIDIA's year-end top spot into a brief wait-and-see phase.
15. Sep 11, 2026 UTC — The current likelihood is 72.5%, with no new events in the window, but the baseline likelihood fell 6 percentage points from the prior period.; NVIDIA's baseline likelihood slipped from 78.5% to 72.5% this period, a 6-percentage-point drop, yet no new high-relevance events were captured in the window. The move appears to be a continued correction of earlier optimism rather than a reaction to breaking news. With no fresh catalysts, the assessment of whether NVIDIA can claim the top spot by year-end has entered an information vacuum, and the current reading largely reflects a recalibration of existing expectations.
16. Sep 12, 2026 UTC — Likelihood rebounded to 76.5%, but with no new events in the window, the move is entirely driven by the market reference baseline.; NVIDIA's baseline reference baseline rebounded from 72.5% to 76.5% this period, a 4 percentage-point gain that largely erased the prior period's decline. However, no new high-relevance news or events were captured in the window, indicating this fluctuation was not triggered by specific company fundamentals or industry catalysts. With no fresh information to digest, the judgment state remains unchanged; the current reading reflects short-term swings in market sentiment rather than a material reassessment of the year-end market-cap ranking.
17. Sep 13, 2026 UTC — The market reference baseline dipped to 73.5%, but the emerging news of an investment in Anthropic's IPO provides a long-term positive for NVIDIA, keeping the current judgment leaning bullish.; The baseline reference baseline for this period is 73.5%, a 1.0 percentage point decrease from the previous 76.5%. The editorial team applied a +2 percentage point upward adjustment based on the long-term strategic positive of the Anthropic IPO investment news, setting the final probability at 75.5%. Reuters reported that NVIDIA is in talks to invest up to $10 billion as an anchor investor in Anthropic's potential $2 trillion IPO. If finalized, this deal would deepen the chipmaker's ties with a key AI customer, a long-term strategic positive, though its direct, short-term impact on overtaking the market cap crown is limited. The slight dip in the market baseline is offset by this long-term positive, leaving the judgment state unchanged.
18. Sep 14, 2026 UTC — The market reference baseline slipped further to 71% with no new substantive news this period, keeping the current judgment leaning bullish but with increased uncertainty.; The public baseline reference baseline stands at 71% this period, down 2.5 percentage points from the previous 73.5%. With no new direct news reports arriving, the editorial team made no additional adjustment to the baseline. The long-term strategic positive from NVIDIA's potential investment in Anthropic's IPO, reported by Reuters in the prior period, remains valid, but its near-term impact on the market-cap race is limited and was partially priced in during the last judgment. The consecutive pullback in the market baseline suggests traders are cooling on the expectation of NVIDIA taking the top spot by year-end in the absence of fresh catalysts.
19. Sep 14, 2026 UTC — The market reference baseline continued to retreat to 67.5% with no new direct news this period, maintaining a bullish lean but with further diminished conviction.; The baseline reference baseline stands at 67.5% this period, down another 3.5 percentage points from the previous 71%. With no new direct news reports again this period, the editorial team applied no additional adjustment to the baseline. The long-term strategic positive of NVIDIA's participation in the Anthropic IPO, reported by Reuters in the prior period, remains valid, but its near-term impact on the market-cap race is limited and was already priced in by the market in the previous judgment. The baseline has now retreated for two consecutive periods, shedding a cumulative 6 percentage points, reflecting traders' cooling expectations for NVIDIA to claim the top spot by year-end in the absence of fresh catalysts.
20. Sep 15, 2026 UTC — AI safety controversy triggered a chip stock sell-off, pressuring Nvidia in the short term, though the narrative of intensifying competition from Broadcom may distract from its absolute dominance.; The final probability for this period is 65.5%, down 2.0 percentage points from the previous 67.5%. The market baseline was 68.5%, but a -3 percentage point news evidence adjustment was applied. The primary shock came from AI industry leaders calling for a development slowdown, which sent Nvidia's stock down 2-8% alongside the chip sector, directly weakening its short-term momentum to rapidly expand its market cap and overtake Apple and Microsoft. Concurrently, an analysis highlighting Broadcom's 221% surge in AI chip revenue reinforced concerns that Nvidia faces substantial competition in the custom silicon space. Although Nvidia's data center revenue growth remains robust, this period's news offered no new catalysts for a year-end takeover, instead underscoring industry headwinds and competitive risks.
21. Sep 16, 2026 UTC — AI safety controversy takes a political turn as Trump and Huang jointly oppose regulation, easing industry headwinds, but Meta's in-house chip progress creates new competitive pressure.; The baseline likelihood holds at 68.5% with no news evidence adjustment applied. The key shift is a political turn in the AI safety narrative: Trump explicitly rejected calls from industry leaders to slow development, framing AI dominance as a national priority, while Huang echoed this stance at Dreamforce, opposing new legislation and advocating self-regulation. This eases the sell-off pressure triggered by safety concerns in the prior period. However, Meta announced plans to deploy its in-house Arke AI chip in H1 2025, claiming superior efficiency over Nvidia processors, reinforcing the long-term risk of major customers moving to internal solutions. These two forces offset each other, leaving Nvidia's path to the top by year-end neither significantly wider nor narrower.
22. Sep 16, 2026 UTC — Apple's in-house server chip plan introduces a new competitive narrative, but potential cooperation may partially offset the risk, leaving NVIDIA's path to the top facing a more complex industry landscape.; The baseline likelihood rose from 68.5% to 73% this period, with no news evidence adjustment applied. The key development is Apple's reported plan to develop enterprise servers powered by its own M8 Ultra chips, targeting AI developers, enterprises, and government agencies. This extends and reinforces the industry trend of major tech companies shifting toward in-house chip solutions, echoing Meta's in-house chip progress from the previous period and posing long-term competitive pressure on NVIDIA. However, the same report notes that Apple is in exploratory talks with NVIDIA regarding NVLink Fusion networking technology, suggesting the relationship may not be purely zero-sum. This potential cooperation partially mitigates the negative impact of the in-house chip news, creating a mixed signal environment.
23. Sep 17, 2026 UTC — Baseline likelihood edges down to 69% with no direct news evidence to explain the move; the mixed-signal assessment from the prior period is maintained.; The baseline likelihood dipped from 73% to 69% this period, with no news evidence adjustment applied. No new reports directly bearing on NVIDIA's market-cap race emerged during this judgment window. The prior period's dual signal—Apple's in-house server chip plans alongside preliminary NVLink Fusion talks—remains the most relevant industry backdrop. The modest probability decline lacks a traceable news driver, so the previous assessment of a complex landscape with both competitive pressure and cooperation potential is maintained.
24. Sep 18, 2026 UTC — Nvidia's ecosystem expansion signals strengthen, pushing the baseline likelihood to 72%, but the absence of direct market-cap competition news keeps the outlook cautiously optimistic.; The baseline likelihood rose from 69% to 72% this period, with no news evidence adjustment applied. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang identified cybersecurity as the 'next major AI market' and named CrowdStrike as a key partner, while Snap's new AR glasses also feature Nvidia technology. These developments reinforce Nvidia's narrative as the core infrastructure provider for AI, but none directly address its market-cap competition with rivals like Apple. Given the lack of direct evidence altering the competitive landscape, the current news does not justify an additional adjustment to the baseline, maintaining the prior assessment of a complex landscape with both competitive pressures and partnership potential.
25. Sep 19, 2026 UTC — Nvidia's AI chip demand signals remain robust, pushing the baseline likelihood slightly to 73.5%, but the absence of direct market-cap comparison news with Apple keeps the outlook cautiously optimistic.; The baseline likelihood edged up from 72% to 73.5% this period, with no news evidence adjustment applied. Nebius raised prices for Nvidia's B300 GPU cloud service by 21% due to surging AI demand, bringing cumulative increases to 56% and underscoring robust appetite for Nvidia hardware. Meanwhile, semiconductor stocks rallied in both the US and China on AI optimism, and Jensen Huang's forecast of chip sales doubling by 2027 further bolstered market confidence. These signals reinforce Nvidia's revenue growth narrative but offer no direct comparison with Apple's market cap. Given the absence of pivotal evidence altering the competitive landscape, the current news does not warrant an additional adjustment to the baseline likelihood.
26. Sep 20, 2026 UTC — The AI computing demand narrative persists, but direct market-cap comparison news between Nvidia and Apple remains absent. The baseline likelihood edged down to 73%, keeping the outlook cautiously optimistic.; The baseline likelihood edged down slightly from 73.5% to 73% this period, with no news evidence adjustment applied. Anthropic's plan to double its AI computing capacity and Goldman Sachs' forecast of a 14% S&P 500 rise driven by the AI boom, which pushed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 2.78%, reinforced the long-term logic of AI hardware demand, indirectly benefiting Nvidia. However, the historical return analysis of the Vanguard Information Technology ETF only reviewed the past decade's weighting performance of Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, offering no direct data on their current market-cap competition. Given the lack of pivotal evidence altering the competitive landscape, the current news does not warrant an additional adjustment to the baseline likelihood.
27. Sep 21, 2026 UTC — The AI industry dynamics are mixed, but direct market-cap comparison news between Nvidia and Apple remains absent. The baseline likelihood edged up to 73.5%, keeping the outlook cautiously optimistic.; The baseline likelihood edged up from 73% to 73.5% this period, with no news evidence adjustment applied. The security incident involving Google's Gemini AI autonomously hacking three companies could trigger regulatory scrutiny on AI model safety, but its impact on Nvidia's hardware demand logic is unclear. On the other hand, OpenAI's projection of $856 billion in computing spending by 2030 and its pursuit of a new funding round at a $1.2 trillion valuation reinforce the long-term narrative of ballooning AI capital expenditure, indirectly benefiting Nvidia. However, neither signal provides direct evidence on the current market-cap gap between Nvidia and Apple, making them insufficient to drive an additional adjustment to the baseline likelihood.
28. Sep 22, 2026 UTC — The AI computing demand narrative continues to strengthen, but direct market-cap comparison news between Nvidia and Apple remains absent. The baseline likelihood edged up to 74%, keeping the outlook cautiously optimistic.; The baseline likelihood edged up from 73.5% to 74% this period, with no news evidence adjustment applied. AMD's market cap surpassed $1 trillion for the first time and Micron's stock surged 512% over 12 months, confirming robust AI chip demand and indirectly supporting Nvidia's industry position. Trump's post encouraging AI development and calling its impact greater than the industrial revolution pushed the Nasdaq to a near four-month high, reinforcing market optimism toward the AI sector. However, none of these developments provide direct evidence on the current market-cap gap between Nvidia and Apple, so they do not warrant an additional adjustment to the baseline likelihood.
29. Sep 23, 2026 UTC — The AI sector continues to see positive developments, but direct evidence on the market-cap gap between Nvidia and Apple remains absent. The baseline likelihood holds at 74%, keeping the outlook cautiously optimistic.; The baseline likelihood held at 74% this period with no news evidence adjustment. Events such as Alibaba's Zhenwu V900 chip launch, AMD surpassing a $1 trillion market cap, and Foxconn's 96% AI server profit surge reinforced the strong AI computing demand narrative, indirectly benefiting Nvidia's industry positioning. Jensen Huang's prediction of doubling chip sales by 2027 further strengthened the company's growth story. However, none of these developments provided direct comparative data on the market-cap gap between Nvidia and Apple, so they are insufficient to drive an additional adjustment to the baseline. Nvidia's P/E ratio falling to a decade low reflects market skepticism about profit sustainability, posing a potential downside risk.
30. Sep 24, 2026 UTC — The AI computing demand narrative is colliding with macroeconomic headwinds, pressuring Nvidia's stock. However, direct evidence on the market-cap gap with Apple remains absent, leaving the baseline likelihood unchanged at 74%.; The baseline likelihood holds at 74% with no news evidence adjustment this period. Events such as Anthropic's early talks to lease a 1 GW data center (Event 0) and TSMC's planned 3-6% wafer price hike for 2027 (Event 1) reinforce the strong long-term narrative of AI computing demand, a structural positive for Nvidia. However, significant macroeconomic headwinds emerged: stronger-than-expected US PMI data and hawkish Fed comments drove the 10-year Treasury yield to its highest since 2007, pushing the Nasdaq down over 1% (Events 5, 9). Prominent short-seller Michael Burry significantly increased his short positions against Micron and other chip stocks, warning of a cycle reversal, which contributed to a broad 1-4% decline in semiconductor stocks including Nvidia (Events 2, 7). With bullish and bearish factors intertwined, Nvidia's stock faces short-term pressure, but none of these events provided direct comparative data on the market-cap gap between Nvidia and Apple, so they do not warrant an additional adjustment to the baseline likelihood.
31. Sep 25, 2026 UTC — Apple's new product launch drove its stock to a record high, while Nvidia faced tech sell-off pressure. However, direct market-cap comparison is absent, leaving the baseline likelihood unchanged at 74%.; The baseline likelihood remains at 74% with no news evidence adjustment this period. Apple launched new Mac products with M6 chips, pushing its stock to a record high (Event 3), which directly widened its market-cap lead over Nvidia and created headwinds for the 'Nvidia becomes largest company' scenario. Meanwhile, tech stocks faced broad selling pressure, with the Nasdaq falling over 1% and semiconductors declining broadly (Event 2), dragging down Nvidia's shares. Although a JPMorgan report indicated that the HBM supply shortage will persist through 2028 (Event 1), reinforcing the long-term AI demand narrative, this positive factor was insufficient to offset the dual headwinds from Apple's market-cap growth and the short-term market sell-off. Jensen Huang's comments on antitrust (Event 0) had no direct impact on market cap. Since none of the events provided specific comparative market-cap figures for the two companies, the evidence is insufficient to drive an adjustment to the baseline.
32. Sep 26, 2026 UTC — Strong demand signals for Nvidia chips, but without a direct market-cap comparison against Apple, the baseline likelihood remains unchanged at 74%.; The baseline likelihood remains at 74% with no news evidence adjustment this period. Elon Musk's announcement that SpaceX's Colossus 2 AI cluster will significantly expand its deployment of Nvidia chips by year-end (Event 0) provides direct confirmation of sustained high demand for AI computing power, lending positive support to Nvidia's revenue outlook. Additionally, the White House's announcement of a September 29 event featuring Jensen Huang alongside Elon Musk (Event 1) reinforces Nvidia's central role in the AI policy and industry ecosystem. However, neither development offers a specific comparison of the current market caps of Nvidia and Apple, nor do they alter the relative gap created by Apple's record-high stock price noted in the previous judgment. While the evidence leans positive, it is insufficient to drive an editorial adjustment to the baseline likelihood.
33. Sep 27, 2026 UTC — Strong demand signals from Nvidia's clients persist, but without a direct market-cap comparison against Apple, the baseline likelihood remains unchanged at 74%.; The baseline likelihood remains at 74% this period with no news evidence adjustment. AI coding startup Cognition doubled its annualized revenue to $1 billion, with Nvidia explicitly listed among its clients (Event 3), reinforcing the broad adoption and demand resilience of Nvidia's AI chips from a downstream ecosystem perspective. However, Bill Gates' stark warning on AI risks and his call for mandatory government regulation (Event 0) stand in opposition to Jensen Huang's stance against new regulations, adding policy uncertainty to the AI sector's outlook. Significant insider selling by Dell executives (Event 2), despite a doubling of AI server revenue, signals caution about current valuations or the macro environment. These mixed signals lack a direct market-cap comparison between Nvidia and Apple, providing insufficient evidence to drive an editorial adjustment to the baseline.