Apple is once again the world’s most valuable company, moving ahead of Nvidia after a steep drop in AI-related stocks. On Friday, Apple’s market value hit $5.03 trillion, despite its shares falling 1.2%. Nvidia’s shares dropped 4.2%, ending with a $4.93 trillion valuation as worries grew about whether big investments in AI infrastructure will pay off for tech companies.
This is the first time Apple has passed Nvidia since briefly taking the lead in late July. So far in 2026, Apple shares are up 27%, almost three times Nvidia’s 9.7% gain.
This change comes as investors worry that spending heavily on AI data centers might not bring the returns companies hope for. Several big tech firms, like Intel and Amazon, let investors down with their latest results, following earlier disappointing reports from Alphabet and Meta.
Apple has mostly stayed out of the big spending on AI, keeping its capital expenses low compared to other major AI infrastructure companies. This has helped it become the top performer among the Magnificent Seven this year.
Apple has kept its capital spending low and is expected to boost its free cash flow by 38% to $142 billion in fiscal 2026, which ended on September 30. In contrast, Alphabet and Amazon have seen their free cash flow go negative as they spend more on AI, making them rely more on debt.
The Nasdaq 100 dropped 6.7% in October, its worst month since March 2025. AI infrastructure companies were hit hard: CoreWeave and Nebius each lost over 30% that month, and Intel shares fell more than 45%, the company’s biggest monthly drop in over 40 years.
