- Apple overtook Nvidia on Friday, July 17, 2026, to become the world’s most valuable company at roughly $4.88 trillion, its first time on top since April 2025.
- The swap reflects investors rotating away from AI chip stocks, with Nvidia down 3.5% on the day and the broader semiconductor index off nearly 19% from its highs.
- Wall Street could be broadening its AI bets beyond the infrastructure names that led the market for the past year.
Apple officially reclaimed the title of the world’s most valuable public company on Friday, edging past Nvidia as its market value reached about $4.88 trillion compared to the chipmaker’s $4.86 trillion.
Nvidia shares saw a drop of almost 3.5% while Apple’s numbers held steady. However, the difference between both companies’ valuations remains very slim, while they both sit in a tier no other firm has previously reached.
This is the first time Apple’s value is ahead of Nvidia’s since April 2025. Nvidia had held the position for close to a year after overtaking Microsoft last June, and in October it became the first company ever to cross a $5 trillion valuation.
Investors rotate into Apple
The reshuffle says more the cooling enthusiasm for AI infrastructure names in the market than about Apple’s phones. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index has fallen by almost 19% from its record high as traders question how long the chip rally can really continue.
Apple and Nvidia have moved in opposite directions this year. Quartz reported Apple has gone up by about 22% to 23%, the strongest showing among the Magnificent Seven, while Nvidia has gained only a measly 7%.
Toni Meadows, head of investment at BRI Wealth Management, told Reuters that Apple had been “seen as a laggard in the AI race because it wasn’t spending to develop models, but now sentiment has changed.” He added that the company is “less exposed to capex intensity and better positioned to monetize AI via services, ecosystem lock-in, and hardware upgrades.”
Nvidia still a top company
Regardless of the recent market changes, Nvidia’s chips still power most of the generative AI developments, and its business remains enormous. Quartz noted that the company posted $81.6 billion in revenue for its fiscal first quarter of 2027, up 85% from a year earlier.
“I don’t see any meaningful distinction. Nvidia likely to be a significant participant in whatever happens going forward,” said Benjamin Hall, vice president of alpha research at Segal Marco Advisors, in comments to Reuters. He also stated that interest is moving past just the usual megacaps, pointing to new entrants into the market that “could spread out the focus away from the pure Magnificent Seven names.”
Memory chipmakers have been among this year’s real winners. Micron crossed $1 trillion in market value in May, and South Korea’s SK Hynix listed on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
Milestone during Apple’s leadership change
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook is set to step aside from his role in September, and will be handing the job to hardware engineering chief John Ternus before moving into an executive chairman role.
Last month, the tech giant shipped a long-delayed rebuild of Siri, reported to be powered by Google’s Gemini technology, with a more intensive rollout expected later this year.
The company also won government approval to launch Apple Intelligence in China this week. HSBC upgraded the stock to buy from hold, with analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson writing that Apple sits at “an operational turning point” and can lean on its 2.5 billion installed devices.
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Opeyemi Olanrewaju
Opeyemi specializes in creating and refining high-quality content focused on cryptocurrency, global financial markets and the economy. He graduated from the University of Ibadan with an MBBS degree. He has worked as Editor-in-Chief for his College’s editorial publication and previously at CFA. For over six years, he has helped safeguard uniqueness as news editor at Cryptopolitan.
