Apple’s market value hits $5 trillion for first time
The intraday market value hit $5 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, having just surpassed Nvidia to become the most valuable listed company the day before. The iPhone maker will report quarterly results on Thursday and its shares have risen 25% this year, outperforming other Big Tech peers. The stock hit a high of $342.89 on Tuesday before retreating slightly. Although very large companies—Alphabet, ——It has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in capital expenditures this year to build its artificial intelligence, but Apple’s capital expenditures have been kept at a low level and use data from cloud infrastructure and AI technology. Apple trailed its trillion-dollar peers in market capitalization last year as investors worried the company was missing out on the AI boom by reining in investments and delaying the release of a long-awaited Siri upgrade that would launch this fall alongside new iPhone hardware. But the narrative has flipped recently amid concerns that aggressive technology spenders are taking on debt and running negative cash flows without a clear path to strong returns. The debate over the future of AI is reflected in Apple's battle with chipmaker Nvidia for the top spot in market capitalization. Nvidia, whose graphics processing units (GPUs) provide computing power for most large AI models, was the first to hit the $5 trillion market value mark in October last year, but its stock has lagged behind this year, rising only 6%. Meanwhile, Apple shares continue to rise despite rising device prices due to a global shortage of memory chips. On Tuesday, Apple announced a new Upgrade program that allows U.S. customers to lease iPhones and other products instead of buying them outright. Last month, the company raised the prices of MacBooks and iPads, the first time it has officially passed on higher memory and storage costs to consumers, after CEO Tim Cook said price increases were inevitable. Thursday's earnings call will be Cook's last appearance as CEO, with John Ternus officially taking over on September 1.