TL;DR
Apple ($4.88T) overtook Nvidia ($4.86T) as the world’s most valuable company for the first time since April 2025. Nvidia fell 3.5%. The AI trade is broadening.
Nvidia held the crown for nearly a year after becoming the first company to pass $5 trillion. The chip index is down 19% from its highs as investors reassess AI.
Apple ($4.88T) overtook Nvidia ($4.86T) as the world’s most valuable company for the first time since April 2025. Nvidia fell 3.5%. The AI trade is broadening.
Apple overtook Nvidia on Friday to become the world’s most valuable company for the first time since April 2025. Apple closed at roughly $4.88 trillion as its shares held steady, while Nvidia fell 3.5% to approximately $4.86 trillion. Nvidia had held the top spot for nearly a year after becoming the first company to surpass $5 trillion in October.
The shift reflects investors broadening their AI focus beyond the most obvious beneficiaries. “Apple was seen as a laggard in the AI race because it wasn’t spending to develop models, but now sentiment has changed,” said Toni Meadows of BRI Wealth Management. Apple rolled out its long-delayed Siri overhaul last month, and CEO Tim Cook is preparing to hand the role to hardware veteran John Ternus in September. Apple posted its best quarter ever by not building an AI model, proving that the strategy of integrating others’ models rather than training its own can work commercially.
The semiconductor index has fallen nearly 19% from its all-time highs as investors reassess the sustainability of the AI trade. The bigger winners this year have been memory chipmakers: Micron crossed $1 trillion in May, and SK Hynix listed on the Nasdaq earlier this month. “The new entrants to the market could spread out the focus away from the pure Magnificent Seven names into a wider number of names,” said Benjamin Hall of Segal Marco Advisors.
The reshuffling does not necessarily signal a lasting change. Nvidia’s GPUs still power the majority of AI infrastructure, and the company could reclaim the top spot if sentiment shifts. Memory makers like Micron are signing multi-year AI supply deals that position them as long-term beneficiaries alongside Nvidia rather than replacements. Apple’s position is also delicate: the company has raised prices to offset costs from the memory shortage and tariffs, a strategy that could hurt demand if consumers pull back.
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