THE NEW YORK TIMES: Tech giant Apple overtakes Nvidia to reclaim title as world’s most valuable public company
Its stock price finished the day up more than 1 per cent, leading to a market valuation of $US4.9 trillion.
Apple overtook chipmaker Nvidia on Monday to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, about two years after it lost the crown.
The company’s ascent was as much a result of a sell-off of Nvidia’s stock as it was an endorsement by investors. Apple’s stock price finished the day up more than 1 per cent, leading to a market valuation of $US4.9 trillion ($7 trillion).
But Nvidia’s stock, driven by spending concerns, was down almost 5 per cent, leading to a market cap of $US4.8 trillion, according to Bloomberg.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Apple has sat on the sidelines of the artificial intelligence race for much of the past four years, leading to more frequent questions from investors about its plans.
In 2024, after more than a decade at the top of the stock market, it lost the most valuable company crown to Microsoft.
While Apple’s reign over the stock market could be short-lived, it returned to the top as investors reevaluate AI.
Earlier this month, stocks slid amid increasing concerns about spending on the technology and growing competition from China.
“Apple is a little bit of a flight to safety,” said Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, a technology analysis company.
“People see the AI trade is volatile, and they see Apple as almost like owning an index,” he added.
In the four or so years since OpenAI released its ChatGPT chatbot and kicked off the AI boom, Nvidia’s market valuation has ballooned more than tenfold. Demand has surged for its chips.
They are key components for developing and running AI, but there are growing concerns about costs associated with AI development.
Unlike the rest of the technology industry, Apple is not overhauling itself around AI. Apple is using AI models and cloud computing services from Google for its own products.
Apple has argued that its approach to AI was different from that of its peers in Silicon Valley.
“Some appear to be racing forward, seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI, without clear regard for the people — all of us — that it’s ultimately meant to serve,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering, said in June.
