Apple overtook Nvidia on Friday to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company for the first time since April 2025. The change followed a sharp fall in Nvidia shares during a broader semiconductor selloff, while Apple remained comparatively stable. The lead lasted only briefly, with Nvidia recovering later in the session and moving back ahead.
The numbers
According to LSEG market data, Apple reached a market value of about $4.88 trillion, narrowly ahead of Nvidia at $4.86 trillion. The gap was roughly $20 billion, or less than half a percent of either company’s value. Nvidia shares were down about 3.5 percent when Apple moved ahead, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had fallen nearly 19 percent from its June peak. The ranking reversed soon afterward as Nvidia recovered, showing how little separated the two companies and how easily a modest move in either stock could change the order within the same trading session. Nvidia had held first place since June 2025 and previously became the first public company to cross a $5 trillion valuation.
The AI trade is losing momentum
Apple’s brief return came as investors reduced their exposure to semiconductor stocks after months of AI-driven gains. Nvidia remains the main supplier of processors used to train and run large AI models, but its valuation depends heavily on continued spending by Microsoft, Amazon, Google and other data-center operators. Concern has grown around the scale of that spending, the electricity required to support it and the time needed to produce returns. The recent chip selloff has affected Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom and memory suppliers across several markets. Apple carries less direct exposure to that cycle. It has invested in custom silicon, Private Cloud Compute and its own AI models without matching the infrastructure budgets of the largest cloud companies, while its earnings still come mainly from hardware and services sold through an installed base of billions of devices.
Apple still has work to do
The valuation does not settle Apple’s problems in AI. Apple Intelligence launched slowly, major Siri features were delayed and the company continues to rely on outside partners for some model capabilities. Recent progress has improved the outlook as Apple expands Apple Intelligence into additional markets, prepares a broader Siri overhaul and strengthens the infrastructure behind its AI services. Investors appear more willing to accept its slower approach while competing companies absorb much larger capital costs.
Apple reached the top for only a short time before Nvidia took it back.
The brief crossover still mattered. It showed how quickly Wall Street’s preferred side of the AI trade can shift, and how close Apple has moved to Nvidia after spending much of the AI boom under pressure.
