Apple briefly crossed the $5 trillion market valuation milestone Tuesday, becoming only the second company ever to reach the threshold and reclaiming its position as the world's most valuable publicly traded company following a rally in its stock price.
The company's shares climbed as much as 1.8% during early trading, reaching $342.89 per share and pushing market capitalization above $5 trillion for the first time. Though the stock later surrendered much of those gains, the milestone reflected Apple's recent resurgence.
With the surge, Apple overtook Nvidia to become the world's most valuable company, holding an estimated market value of roughly $5 trillion compared with Nvidia's approximately $4.7 trillion. Alphabet follows with a valuation near $3.9 trillion, while Microsoft stands at about $2.9 trillion.
Apple's stock has significantly outperformed Nvidia this year despite the latter's dominance in artificial intelligence. Shares of Apple have climbed nearly 25% since the start of the year, while Nvidia's stock has gained just 2.6% over the same period. Nvidia shares slipped about 1.4% in Tuesday trading.
The achievement highlight how rapidly the largest technology companies have expanded. Apple became the first publicly traded company to reach $1 trillion in 2018, doubled that to $2 trillion in 2020, and crossed $3 trillion in 2022. Nvidia later became the first company to surpass both $4 trillion and $5 trillion as investor enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence sent its valuation soaring.
On the same day, Apple unveiled a new financing program to make iPhones more affordable for consumers. Beginning soon, U.S. Customers will be able to lease an iPhone for up to two years through a program called Upgrade, with monthly payments starting at $17.99. The initiative is being launched in partnership with buy-now, pay-later provider Klarna and will be available through Apple's retail stores and online platform.
The announcement follows recent price increases across several Apple product lines. The company raised the starting prices of iPads and Mac computers by at least $100, with some premium models increasing by more than $1,000, citing a worldwide shortage of memory components.
For much of the past decade, Apple held the top position as the world's most valuable company after surpassing Exxon in 2011. The company later alternated with Microsoft for the position before Nvidia overtook both amid explosive growth in AI-related investments.
Like its largest competitors, Apple has been increasing investments in artificial intelligence at a more measured pace. The company spent approximately $12.7 billion on capital expenditures during fiscal 2025, well below the massive spending plans of rivals. Alphabet has projected about $205 billion in AI-related investments this year, while Microsoft and Amazon have each outlined plans to spend up to roughly $190 billion and $145 billion, respectively.