Apple briefly reached a $5 trillion market capitalization on Tuesday, becoming the first company to hit the milestone just a day after overtaking Nvidia to reclaim its position as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
Shares of the iPhone maker have surged 25% so far this year, outperforming other mega-cap technology companies.
The stock climbed to an intraday high of $342.89 before easing slightly, as investors looked ahead to the company’s quarterly earnings report due on Thursday.
Unlike its hyperscale rivals, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft — which are collectively investing hundreds of billions of dollars in capital expenditures this year to expand their artificial intelligence infrastructure, Apple has maintained relatively modest capital spending while relying on cloud infrastructure and AI technology from Google.
The company lagged behind other trillion-dollar technology firms last year as investors grew concerned that it was falling behind in the AI race due to its restrained investment strategy and delays to its long-awaited Siri upgrade.
Apple is expected to launch the enhanced Siri this fall alongside its next-generation iPhone lineup.
Investor sentiment has shifted in recent months as concerns grow that the biggest technology companies’ aggressive AI spending is driving up debt levels and pushing cash flows into negative territory, without a clear timeline for generating significant returns on those investments.
The evolving outlook for artificial intelligence is reflected in the race between Apple and chipmaker Nvidia for the title of the world’s most valuable company. Nvidia, whose graphics processing units underpin most leading AI models, became the first company to surpass a $5 trillion market capitalization in October. However, its shares have gained just 6% this year, trailing Apple’s stronger performance.
Apple’s stock has continued to climb despite raising prices on several devices amid a global memory shortage.
On Tuesday, the company unveiled Upgrade, a new U.S. program that allows customers to lease iPhones and other Apple products instead of purchasing them outright.
