Apple reclaims title as most valuable company, overtaking Nvidia amid AI spending concerns

Apple ends day as world's most valuable company, passing Nvidia

Apple emerges as megacap hedge against the AI spending binge Apple passed Nvidia on Monday for the title of world's most valuable company, with the iPhone maker topping the artificial intelligence chip firm at market close for the first time since April 2025. Shares of Nvidia fell 5% on Monday, giving the chipmaker a valuation of $4.77 trillion, as AI chip stocks in general declined as investors fret about large costs related to the AI buildout. Meanwhile, Apple shares rose 1%, giving it a market cap of $4.95 trillion, ahead of the company's highly-anticipated earnings on Thursday. Nvidia had held the top spot as the most valuable company since June 2025, when it took the crown from Microsoft, and it briefly held a $5 trillion capitalization in October. So far in 2026, Nvidia's shares have only climbed 4% while Apple's are up 24%. Apple has outperformed the market as investors have rewarded its reluctance to spend heavily on capital expenditures for AI, preferring to rent capacity instead of building its own. While Nvidia's sales are now in the third year of massive AI-driven growth, many investors have switched their focus from AI chips called graphics processing units to memory chips and other data center infrastructure that benefit from the AI boom, such as Micron Technology, SK Hynix, and Sandisk. Apple will report fiscal third-quarter earnings on Thursday, in which the iPhone maker is expected to reveal for the first time some of the financial impacts from the AI-driven global memory chip shortage, which forced the company to raise Mac and iPad prices in June.

Apple retakes Wall Street's crown from Nvidia

This handover above all highlights a shift in investor perceptions of artificial intelligence. Long penalized for its apparent lag in generative AI, Apple is now benefiting from a model that is far less capital-intensive than that of the hyperscalers. While Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into data centers, to the point of consuming nearly all of their free cash flow and forcing them to raise capital in the markets, Apple is sticking with its asset-light approach, built on integrating external models, its massive installed base, and its ability to monetize AI through services and iPhone upgrades. At the same time, enthusiasm around AI infrastructure has cooled since early June. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen more than 20% from its recent high, while Nvidia, still the leading beneficiary of hyperscaler capex, is down about 13% from its mid-May record. The crown remains fragile nonetheless, as Apple will report quarterly results on Thursday, July 30, with consensus expectations near $109bn in revenue. The market will primarily look to confirm that strength in iPhone and services supports a now record valuation, as higher component costs could start to weigh on margins. Attention will then shift to the traditional September keynote, which will carry particular weight this year as it comes a few days after John Ternus takes over as CEO on September 1, with Tim Cook becoming Executive Chairman. The event could offer clues about Apple's strategic priorities under the former head of hardware engineering. The group is expected in particular to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, as well as its first foldable iPhone, a launch that could revive hardware innovation and support the device upgrade cycle.