apple and Nvidia On Friday, the iPhone maker briefly surpassed the longtime leader in market capitalization in a battle for the title of the world’s most valuable company.
Nvidia’s stock price fell about 3% in early morning trading, dropping its market capitalization to $4.84 trillion, while Apple’s market capitalization hovered around $4.88 trillion. Those spots were later reversed.
In 2026, the fates of the two companies were very different.
Apple has soared 22% this year, outperforming the market as investors reward Apple’s AI agenda and light capital expenditure model as companies spend unprecedented amounts on infrastructure.
The stock also hit new highs this week, with HSBC upgrading the stock to a “buy” rating, citing new AI capabilities and a strong product pipeline.
“This AI enhancement comes at an opportune time as Apple appears to have one of the most innovative product pipelines in place,” they wrote.
Meanwhile, Nvidia was largely a bystander, up just 7%, as Wall Street focused on the memory chip and infrastructure stages of data center construction. This benefited memory stocks and others. micron technology and sandisk.
Nvidia had held the title of the world’s most valuable company since June 2025, at which time microsoft. In October, the company reached a historic $5 trillion market cap for the first time.
That same month, Apple’s market capitalization exceeded $4 trillion for the first time due to strong iPhone sales.
