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Apple topped $4tn in market value for the first time on Tuesday, the third tech company to hit the milestone, as robust demand for its latest iPhones allayed fears over its slow progress in the AI race. Microsoft reached a $4tn market cap for the second time the same day as the wider US stock market hit record highs.
Apple’s shares have gained about 13% since the new launches on 9 September, in a remarkable turnaround that pushed the stock into positive territory for the first time this year.
“The iPhone accounts for over half of Apple’s profit and revenue, and the more phones they can get into the hands of people, the more they can drive people into their ecosystem,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management, ahead of the milestone.
Apple shares had struggled earlier this year on concerns over tough competition in China and uncertainties around how the company would navigate high US tariffs on Asian economies such as China and India, its major manufacturing hubs.
The latest smartphones, the iPhone 17 lineup, wooed back customers from Beijing to Moscow within the first few weeks of launch, while the company has swallowed the high costs from the tariffs instead of passing them on to consumers. Analysts said the iPhone Air’s slim design could help fend off rivals such as Samsung Electronics, while early sales of the iPhone 17 outperformed its predecessor by 14% in the US and China, data from research firm Counterpoint showed. Some analysts have said that the iPhone Air has failed to meet demand projections and that Apple has scaled back production of it, though others dispute those claims.
Apple is the third company to hit the $4tn mark after Nvidia and Microsoft. Nvidia currently tops the group with a market value of more than $4.5tn.
Microsoft first hit the stock market milestone in July. After a slight stock dip, it reclaimed its membership in the exclusive club when shares rose after the Tuesday announcement of a deal with OpenAI to allow the ChatGPT maker to restructure itself into a public benefit corporation. With OpenAI’s valuation pegged at $500bn, Microsoft’s 27% stake in it is valued at more than $100bn.
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Unlike Microsoft’s all-in attitude towards artificial intelligence, Apple’s cautious approach to AI had fueled concerns it could lose out on what could be the industry’s biggest growth catalyst in decades. Recent reports also indicate that the company is losing a number of its senior artificial intelligence executives to Meta.
The company was slow to roll out its Apple Intelligence suite, including a ChatGPT integration, while an AI upgrade to its voice assistant Siri has been delayed until next year. The products, which lack the capabilities of other available AI software, have disappointed some consumers.
Apple reported its strongest quarterly results in years during the April-June period, with double-digit growth across key segments and its forecasts were better than analysts’ expectations. The company is expected to announce its fourth-quarter results on 30 October.
