Apple Regained Its Title as the World’s Most Valuable Company

On Friday, July 17, Nvidia shares fell 3.7%, reducing the chipmaker’s market value to $4.8 trillion. Apple shares, by contrast, gained 0.4%, lifting the company’s capitalization to $4.9 trillion.

Shares of the iPhone maker have now risen 21% from their June low. They are up 23% since the beginning of the year—the strongest performance among the Magnificent Seven companies.

By comparison, the technology-focused Nasdaq 100 has gained 12% in 2026, while the S&P 500 is up 8.6%.

Apple’s rise comes amid a reallocation of capital within the technology sector. Investors are reducing their exposure to companies spending heavily on artificial-intelligence development, as well as to chipmakers whose shares surged on the back of that spending. Concern is growing that the rally has gone too far.

Apple received an additional boost from Chinese authorities’ long-awaited approval for the launch of Apple Intelligence in the country. The service’s entry into the Chinese market is expected to accelerate the company’s growth.

Nvidia shares came under pressure after Chinese startup Moonshot unveiled a new artificial-intelligence model said to rival leading systems from OpenAI and Anthropic. Those companies use Nvidia chips. The potential proliferation of Chinese models has deepened doubts over whether the current scale of investment in AI infrastructure can be sustained.

At the same time, HSBC upgraded Apple shares from “hold” to “buy,” citing the company’s advantageous position in the current market environment.

“Apple has reached an operational inflection point,” analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson wrote. “Not only can the company remain above the debate over excessive capital spending, but it is also well positioned to capitalize on its base of 2.5 billion active devices following the forthcoming Apple Intelligence upgrade.”