Apple just became the world’s most valuable company again — here’s why

Apple is once again the world’s most valuable company. The tech giant overtook Nvidia on Friday after the chipmaker’s shares fell 3.7%, dragging its market value down to about $4.8 trillion, while Apple’s 0.4% gain lifted its own valuation to roughly $4.9 trillion, a Bloomberg report said.

The last time Apple sat at the top was before Nvidia overtook it in May 2025, so Friday’s shift ends a run of more than a year. According to Bloomberg, the change reflects investors moving away from the companies that gained the most from the artificial intelligence boom and toward businesses better positioned for sustained growth — a shift that has clearly worked in Apple’s favour.

Apple’s stock has risen 21% since its low point in June and is up 23% year-to-date, the strongest performance among the ‘Magnificent Seven’ technology companies. By comparison, the Nasdaq 100 Index gained 12% and the S&P 500 Index gained 8.6% across the same period.

Part of Apple’s momentum comes from government approval to finally launch Apple Intelligence in China, a step expected to support the company’s growth in one of its biggest markets. Nvidia, meanwhile, has faced pressure from reports that a new AI model from Chinese startup Moonshot rivals leading systems from OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which run on Nvidia’s chips — a development that has renewed doubts about how much further AI infrastructure spending can grow.

HSBC also upgraded Apple to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, with analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson saying the company ‘is now at an operational turning point’ that lets it avoid ‘the (too) high capex debate’ while making use of its 2.5 billion installed device base as its revamped Apple Intelligence rolls out more broadly.

Apple Park/CC-BY-SA 3.0/by Arne Müseler