Apple overtakes Nvidia to become world’s most valuable company - The Straits Times
Customers holding Apple iPhone Duo smartphones at Apple's Fifth Avenue store during the first day of in-store sales in New York, on Oct 23.
Apple reclaimed the title of world’s most valuable company on Oct 30, taking the mantle from Nvidia as investors seek the perceived safety of the iPhone maker amid concerns about artificial intelligence spending.
Shares of Apple fell 1.2% on Oct 30, resulting in a market capitalisation of US$5.03 trillion (S$6.4 trillion), while Nvidia sank 4.2% to close with a valuation of US$4.93 trillion.
This is the first time Apple has overtaken Nvidia since briefly doing so in late July.
The Oct 30 sell-off came as a number of major technology companies disappointed with their results, including Intel and Amazon, which followed similarly disappointing reports from Alphabet and Meta Platforms, among others.
The reports renewed concerns about the outlook for AI spending, something Apple has largely foregone.
Fears that heavy spending on AI computing infrastructure will not pay off have helped make Apple, which has kept a lid on capital expenditures, by far the best performing of the Magnificent Seven tech giants in 2026.
Its shares are up 27% in 2026, more than twice the gain of second-place Nvidia, which is a key beneficiary of AI spending.
The outlays have become so large that companies like Alphabet and Amazon have seen their free cash flow turn negative, forcing them to increasingly turn to debt markets for funding.
Meanwhile, rising interest rates are raising the cost of borrowing.
Apple, by contrast, is projected to see its free cash flow climb 38% to US$142 billion in fiscal 2026, which ended on Sept 30.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index fell 6.7% in October, its worst month since March 2025.
CoreWeave and Nebius Group, data centre owners that offer AI computing services, have dropped more than 30% in October.With the Oct 30 collapse, Intel lost more than 45% in October, its biggest ever one-month drop in data compiled by Bloomberg going back more than 40 years. BLOOMBERG
