Apple has reclaimed its position as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company after its shares climbed more than 1% last Monday, lifting its market capitalisation to approximately $4.94 trillion. The gain pushed the iPhone maker ahead of Nvidia, whose market value stood at $4.83 trillion.
The milestone caps a strong year for Apple, with its stock rising more than 22% since January, making it the best-performing member of the “Magnificent Seven” group of mega-cap technology companies.
Apple’s resurgence reflects a broader shift in investor sentiment, with markets increasingly favouring companies that have maintained disciplined spending on artificial intelligence.
“Once criticised for not spending more on AI, they have been able to avoid some of those capex pitfalls,” said Jay Woods, Chief Market Strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.
Unlike many of its tech rivals, Apple has reduced its capital expenditures over the past three quarters rather than ramping up investment in AI infrastructure.
That contrasts sharply with Alphabet and Tesla, both of which recently unveiled plans for increased spending. Alphabet is increasing investment in AI infrastructure, while Tesla is directing additional capital toward its robotaxi and robotics initiatives. Following their latest earnings reports, both companies saw their shares come under pressure. Alphabet stock has gained about 3% this year, while Tesla shares have fallen roughly 30%.
Investors will now turn their attention to Apple’s quarterly earnings report, scheduled for release after Thursday’s closing bell.
A key focus will be whether the company can expand the rollout of its Apple Intelligence features across more devices without significantly increasing capital expenditures or sacrificing profit margins.
Meanwhile, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta are also due to report earnings this week. Analysts expect all three companies to signal further increases in AI-related spending, underscoring the continued race to build AI capabilities across the technology sector.
Apple’s return to the top also reflects a broader rotation among technology investors away from companies driving the AI infrastructure boom.
Nvidia, whose stock has gained about 7% this year, had held the title of the world’s most valuable company since last June, when it overtook Microsoft. It also became the first company to surpass a $5 trillion market capitalisation.
Monday’s close marks another significant moment for Apple as it coincides with the end of Tim Cook’s tenure as Chief Executive Officer. Cook is set to step down on September 1 to become Executive Chairman. He will be succeeded by John Ternus, the company’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, who will take over as CEO.