Apple briefly touches $5 trillion market cap for first time, surpassing Nvidia

Published Jul 28, 06:04 PM UTC

Apple briefly reached a $5 trillion market capitalization on Tuesday, a day after overtaking Nvidia as the world's most valuable publicly traded company. The milestone reflects a shift in investor sentiment away from heavy AI capital expenditure by hyperscalers like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, and toward Apple's more conservative spending strategy. Apple shares have risen 25% in 2026, while Nvidia has gained only 6%. The company announced a new iPhone leasing program and recently raised prices on MacBooks and iPads due to global memory shortages. Thursday's earnings call will be Tim Cook's last as CEO, with John Ternus taking over on September 1. The rivalry between Apple and Nvidia underscores a broader investor debate about the future of AI investment and returns.