{"slug": "apple-races-past-nvidia-to-reclaim-crown-as-worlds-most-valuable-company", "title": "Apple races past Nvidia to reclaim crown as world’s most valuable company", "summary": "Apple overtook Nvidia on Friday to become the world's most valuable company, with a market valuation of $4.88 trillion versus Nvidia's $4.86 trillion, as investors reassess the outlook for artificial intelligence. The shift ends Nvidia's nearly year-long reign and reflects Apple's efforts to monetize AI through services and hardware upgrades, despite being seen as a laggard in the AI race.", "body_md": "# Apple races past Nvidia to reclaim crown as world’s most valuable company\n\nBy\n\nReuters\n\nPublished\nJuly 17, 2026, 11:12 a.m. ET\n\nSee more of our coverage in your search results.\n\n[Add The New York Post on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=nypost.com)\n\nApple overtook Nvidia on Friday to become the world’s most valuable company, reshuffling the top ranks of tech heavyweights as investors reassess the [outlook for artificial intelligence](https://nypost.com/2026/07/16/business/chip-giant-tsmc-to-pour-100b-more-into-us-amid-ai-fueled-earnings-boost/).\n\nApple was last valued at $4.88 trillion as its shares held steady, while Nvidia was roughly at $4.86 trillion, following a 3.5% decline.\n\nThe shift in the pecking order illustrates that investors are broadening their focus beyond the most obvious beneficiaries of the AI boom, such as Nvidia, which had been at the helm for nearly a year.\n\nApple is reclaiming the top spot for the first time since April last year.\n\n“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, head of investment at BRI Wealth Management.\n\n“Apple is less exposed to capex intensity and better positioned to monetize AI via services, ecosystem lock-in, and hardware upgrades. The re-rating reflects confidence in earnings durability rather than speculative AI upside.”\n\nFor a company that was often seen trailing in the AI race, the milestone reflects Apple’s efforts to establish itself more firmly among the sector’s leading players, and could shape how CEO Tim Cook’s final months at the helm are viewed.\n\nCook is [preparing to cede](https://nypost.com/2026/04/20/business/apple-names-insider-john-ternus-to-succeed-tim-cook-as-ceo/) his role to hardware veteran [John Ternus](https://nypost.com/2026/04/21/business/who-is-john-ternus-the-hardware-whiz-taking-over-apple/) in September.\n\nLast month, the company rolled out a long-delayed [overhaul of Siri](https://nypost.com/2026/06/08/business/apple-reveals-long-delayed-siri-ai-makeover-at-worldwide-developers-conference/), betting the upgraded assistant would help close the gap with Big Tech rivals and new-age startups in the crucial AI race.\n\nSome analysts say Apple is sitting on an AI gold mine in the form of the personal data that lives on every iPhone.\n\nThe data could make Siri’s answers more useful and the assistant more capable.\n\nThe challenge is that such data is locked away in operating systems in the name of privacy and the company would have to find a way to unlock its value.\n\n## AI spending lifts new winners\n\nNvidia became the first company in the world to [surpass a $5 trillion market valuation](https://nypost.com/2025/10/29/business/nvidia-becomes-first-5t-company-on-ai-frenzy-heres-what-jensen-huang-is-worth/) in October, a landmark that propelled it into a rarefied territory that was far beyond the reach of its rivals.\n\nBeing superseded by Apple does not necessarily signal a lasting change in the companies’ relative standing. The chipmaker remains a major beneficiary of AI-related spending, and its graphics processors are powering much of the generative AI frenzy.\n\nNvidia could also reclaim the top spot if sentiment shifts.\n\nBesides, Apple is in a delicate position itself, having [raised prices](https://nypost.com/2026/06/25/business/apple-hikes-macbook-ipad-prices-due-to-memory-chip-shortage-here-are-the-products-getting-hit/) to offset rising costs — a strategy that could hurt demand.\n\n“I don’t see any meaningful distinction. Nvidia likely to be a significant participant in whatever happens going forward,” said Benjamin Hall, vice president, alpha research at Segal Marco Advisors.\n\nHowever, the AI enthusiasm has spread to other corners of the semiconductor industry. The bigger winners this year have been memory chipmakers such as Micron, which crossed $1 trillion in market value in May as investors embraced the significance of memory chips in AI infrastructure.\n\nSouth Korea’s SK Hynix also [listed on the Nasdaq](https://nypost.com/2026/07/10/business/south-korean-chipmaker-sk-hynix-debuts-on-nasdaq-at-170-a-share/) earlier this month, adding another player to the race for investor attention.\n\n“The new entrants to the market could spread out the focus away from the pure Magnificent Seven names into a wider number of names,” Hall said.\n\nThe eye-watering chips rally ran into turbulence in July as investors reassessed the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade, knocking the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index down almost 19% from its all-time highs.\n\nDespite the steep fall, the index has performed better than Nvidia so far this year.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-races-past-nvidia-to-reclaim-crown-as-worlds-most-valuable-company", "canonical_source": "https://nypost.com/2026/07/17/business/apple-races-past-nvidia-to-reclaim-crown-as-worlds-most-valuable-company/", "published_at": "2026-07-17 15:12:48+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-17 15:26:14.457311+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-chips"], "entities": ["Apple", "Nvidia", "Tim Cook", "John Ternus", "Siri", "BRI Wealth Management", "Segal Marco Advisors", "Micron"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-races-past-nvidia-to-reclaim-crown-as-worlds-most-valuable-company", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-races-past-nvidia-to-reclaim-crown-as-worlds-most-valuable-company.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-races-past-nvidia-to-reclaim-crown-as-worlds-most-valuable-company.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-races-past-nvidia-to-reclaim-crown-as-worlds-most-valuable-company.jsonld"}}