Nvidia closed Friday as the world’s most valuable public company by about $6 billion, a margin so thin that several outlets reported Apple had won instead.
The confusion says as much about the moment as the numbers do. Nvidia shares fell as much as 4.6 percent within the first half hour of trading, pulling its market value briefly below $4.8 trillion and letting Apple’s steadier climb put it ahead on an intraday basis, close enough that some publications filed their reports based on that momentary lead. By the closing bell, Nvidia had pared its loss to about 2.2 percent and finished at just over $4.9 trillion, narrowly ahead of Apple’s roughly $4.9 trillion valuation, according to Bloomberg’s tally of the day’s trading. Nvidia has held the title since June 2025, when it overtook Microsoft, and became the first company to cross $5 trillion in October.
The near miss reflects a real shift in how investors are pricing the two companies. Apple has climbed almost 23 percent so far this year against Nvidia’s roughly 7 percent, and analysts increasingly credit that gap to confidence in Apple’s services revenue, its tightly bound hardware ecosystem and a loyal base that keeps upgrading, rather than to speculative bets on generative AI. HSBC upgraded the stock to buy this week, and the move follows Apple’s unveiling of a redesigned Siri last month as it works to close a perceived gap with rivals in consumer facing AI.
Apple’s next test arrives alongside a leadership change. Tim Cook is set to step down as chief executive on September 1, handing the role to hardware chief John Ternus after nearly 15 years at the helm. Cook, who will become executive chairman, called the job “the greatest privilege of my life” in the company’s announcement of the transition.
The broader chip sector has kept pace with the two giants’ rivalry. Micron crossed a $1 trillion valuation in May, and South Korea’s SK Hynix made its Nasdaq debut in July at a similar scale. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen nearly 19 percent from its July peak, yet it still outperforms the broader market for the year, underscoring that even a cooling AI trade has left chipmakers ahead of the pack.
