Apple Passes $4 Trillion Market Value—Joining Microsoft And Nvidia
by Ty Roush · ForbesTopline
Apple became the third company in history to be valued at $4 trillion, joining AI giant Nvidia and Microsoft as the only firms to reach the milestone, with Apple’s shares surging in recent weeks since unveiling its latest line of iPhones.
Key Facts
Shares of Apple rose as much as 0.4% Wednesday morning, briefly pushing the company’s market capitalization above $4 trillion for the first time.
Apple’s stock has since pared back earlier gains, falling from an all-time high of $269.20 to around $268.60 as of 11:35 a.m. EDT.
Microsoft, which hit the milestone for the first time in July, similarly rose above the $4 trillion threshold as shares climbed 2% as of 11:30 a.m. EDT, raising Microsoft’s market cap to around $4.04 trillion.
Apple ranks third behind Microsoft and Nvidia ($4.6 trillion) as the world’s largest companies, and ahead of Alphabet ($3.2 trillion), Amazon ($2.4 trillion) and Broadcom ($1.7 trillion), respectively.
What To Watch For
Apple will report fourth-quarter earnings Thursday, following Microsoft’s earnings Wednesday. Wall Street anticipates Apple reporting earnings per share of $1.78 and $102.1 billion in revenues, which is expected to be largely driven by iPhone sales ($50 billion), according to FactSet. Economists forecast $3.67 earnings per share for Microsoft through its latest quarter, with revenues expected to top $75.3 billion.
Key Background
Apple shares have rallied more than 15% since the company launched its iPhone 17 and new versions of the iPad Pro, Vision Pro and MacBook Pro on Sept. 9. The latest iPhone model outsold the iPhone 16 by 14% over the first 10 days on the market in the U.S. and China, according to Bloomberg. Apple joins Nvidia and Microsoft as the latest company to top a $4 trillion market value, after Nvidia hit the milestone in July following a nearly 35,000% rally over the last decade, marked by a steady rise in demand for AI technology in recent years. WedBush Securities analyst Dan Ives said that, despite “missing out on AI so far,” Apple topping $4 trillion is a “watershed moment for Cupertino and Big Tech” and a “testament to the best consumer franchise in the world.”