Apple momentarily edged out Nvidia to reclaim its title as the most valuable publicly traded company in the U.S., but by day's end Nvidia was back on top.
Apple's market capitalization hit $4.91 trillion Friday, with Nvidia right behind at $4.83 trillion in early-morning trading. The tech giants flipped back to close the session with Nvidia slightly ahead at a market cap of $4.908 trillion, edging out Apple's $4.902 trillion.
Nvidia was the darling of Wall Street for the past year as chip scarcity drove an unprecedented premium on hardware and tech giants scrambled for its products. But its stock has proved volatile amid doubts that the AI build-out can continue at last year's pace.
Nvidia's stock is up roughly 15.7% over the past year, though it is still trading more than 15% below its May high as the company experienced the market's widespread selloff in chip stocks. Its market cap peaked then at around $5.5 trillion.
Apple has shown a steadier upward trajectory, driven by investor confidence that its dominant consumer position can solve most problems. It may have lagged behind in AI, but that hasn't prompted iPhone users to switch to Android devices. And Apple may be catching up with the new Siri AI coming this fall. The company's stock has risen roughly 57.8% over the past year.
Nvidia dethroned Microsoft as the most valuable publicly traded company last June, and its streak as the undisputed heavyweight of the AI era has now lasted for 266 trading days.
Apple's recent climb accelerated after it reported March quarter sales that showed the iPhone 17 lineup continues to be a hit, a reminder that more people are joining Apple's ecosystem. Each new customer provides another opportunity for Apple to sell high-margin add-ons from App Store apps to storage.
While Nvidia was the first U.S. company to reach the $4 trillion and $5 trillion market cap milestones, Apple's ascent was also historic: it was the first company to cross the $1 trillion and $2 trillion thresholds, in 2018 and 2020.
Apple dealt with a stock drop late in June, after the company spoke of a surge in the cost of memory and storage chips, which are key components inside its devices. Shares fell around 6% when Apple responded to the cost increases by raising prices on Macs and iPads, a prelude to similar price hikes expected for its primary product, the iPhone. Yet Wall Street swiftly dismissed fears that more expensive devices could drive customers away.
Alphabet is close on the tail of Nvidia and Apple, with a market cap of $4.2 trillion, while Microsoft, Amazon and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing trail with sub-$3 trillion market caps.
With SpaceX's $2 trillion blockbuster IPO in June and highly anticipated listings from generative AI front-runners Anthropic and OpenAI, the hierarchy is far from secure.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
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