Apple Briefly Tops Nvidia as Most Valuable Company
Apple briefly became the world's most valuable company on Friday. Its market value hit about $4.88 trillion to $4.92 trillion.
That edged past Nvidia's value of about $4.8 trillion to $4.86 trillion. Apple shares are up about 22% to 23% in 2026.
Nvidia shares gained only about 7% this year. Investors have been shifting money away from chipmakers like Nvidia.
Instead they are favoring companies that power artificial intelligence infrastructure. This shift hurt Nvidia during a broader sell-off in AI stocks.
Apple's stock avoided that downturn. Nvidia had held the top spot since June 2025.
It had become the first company worth $5 trillion in October. Chip stocks overall fell hard.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index dropped almost 19% from its highs. Some investors moved money toward memory chipmakers like Micron and SK Hynix.
Others favored companies with strong cash flow instead of heavy AI spending. Apple is also nearing a CEO change. John Ternus is expected to succeed Tim Cook.
Key Terms 3
- market value Total worth of a company based on its stock price.
- Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index A stock index tracking major computer chip companies.
- AI sell-off A period when investors sold shares of artificial intelligence companies.