Apple’s market capitalization briefly surpassed $5 trillion on Tuesday, making it only the second company in history to reach that milestone after Nvidia. The company’s shares were last up 0.2 percent at $337.70, giving it a market capitalization of $4.96 trillion, while an intraday session high of $342.89 pushed its market value to $5.036 trillion before slipping back below the threshold.
Apple became the most valuable company in the world earlier this month, overtaking chip giant Nvidia, which had held the top position since June 2025 and was the first company ever to breach the $5 trillion mark. For Apple, the rally driving it toward this milestone has been fueled as much by strong demand for its products as by its decision to largely sit out the heavy AI infrastructure spending race that has strained cash flows at several of its Big Tech rivals. Rather than developing its own large scale AI models, Apple has relied on Google’s technology to power new services such as a revamped Siri, avoiding the substantial infrastructure costs that have weighed on competitors more heavily invested in building out AI data centers.
The milestone comes less than a year after Apple first crossed the $4 trillion mark in October 2025. Apple’s stock is up roughly 24 percent year to date and nearly 60 percent over the past 12 months, driven largely by strong iPhone sales. The company has faced criticism in recent years over concerns it was falling behind in the AI race, having delayed key elements of its Apple Intelligence platform, including an upgraded version of Siri, a delay that contributed to executive changes within the company.
Apple’s more modest AI exposure has meant its stock has not seen the same explosive growth as some AI focused peers, including Nvidia, which has risen roughly 1,125 percent, and Meta and Google, which have risen around 386 percent and 226 percent respectively, since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, compared with Apple’s 130 percent gain over the same period. At the same time, Apple has been more insulated from the steep sell-offs some AI focused rivals have faced over concerns about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending. The company is set to report its third-quarter earnings after market close on Thursday, with analysts expecting a more than 15 percent jump in quarterly revenue compared with the same period last year, a report that will offer further insight into how sustainable the company’s current valuation levels may prove to be.
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