TL;DR
Apple ($4.88 million) has overtaken Nvidia ($4.86 million) as the world’s most valuable company for the first time since April 2025. Nvidia fell 3.5%. AI trading is expanding.
Apple overtook Nvidia to become the world’s most valuable company on Friday For the first time since April 2025. Apple shares were flat as they closed at about $4.88 trillion, while Nvidia fell 3.5% to about $4.86 trillion. Nvidia held the top spot for nearly a year after becoming the first company to surpass $5 trillion in October.
The shift reflects investors shifting AI focus beyond the most obvious beneficiaries. “Apple seemed to be lagging behind in the AI race because it wasn’t spending money to develop models, but now the mood has changed,Apple launched a long-delayed Siri overhaul last month, and CEO Tim Cook is set to hand the role to hardware veteran John Ternus in September, said Tony Meadows of BRI Wealth Management. Apple posted its best quarter yet proves that the strategy of integrating others’ models, rather than training one’s own model, can work commercially by not building an AI model.
The semiconductor index is down nearly 19% from all-time highs as investors reassess the sustainability of AI trading. The bigger winners this year have been memory chip makers: Micron passed $1 trillion in May and SK Hynix listed on the Nasdaq earlier this month. “New market entrants can shift their focus away from just the Magnificent Seven to a wider range of names,said Benjamin Hall of Segal Marco Advisors.
Change does not necessarily mean permanent change. Nvidia’s GPUs still power the majority of AI infrastructure, and if sentiment changes, the company could reclaim the top spot. Memory makers like Micron are signing multi-year AI supply contracts positioning them as long-term beneficiaries alongside Nvidia instead of replacing them. Apple’s position is also delicate: the company has raised prices to offset costs from memory shortages and tariffs, a strategy that could hurt demand if consumers push back.
