Apple's market capitalisation briefly crossed $5 trillion on Tuesday, making it only the second company in history to reach the milestone after Nvidia, as strong iPhone demand and a new leasing programme pushed the stock to record highs.
Apple's shares rose as much as 0.72% to $339.33 during the session, giving it a market cap of $4.98 trillion, before touching a session high of $342.89, pushing its valuation to $5.036 trillion. By comparison, Nvidia's shares were last up 0.53% at $197.63, valuing the chipmaker at $4.78 trillion. Apple had already overtaken Nvidia to become the world's most valuable company earlier this month, ending Nvidia's run at the top, which had held the title since June 2025 as the first company ever to breach the $5 trillion mark.
Why Apple's stock is rising
Apple's shares have climbed about 25% this year, driven by steady iPhone demand and a strategy of avoiding the costly AI infrastructure spending pursued by many rivals. Analysts say the company has instead focused on improving user experience while leveraging external AI technologies.
Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee framed the strategy directly: "Apple has resisted the AI spending race, betting that customer experience — not infrastructure investment, will ultimately determine the winners."
The new iPhone leasing scheme
On Tuesday, Apple also launched a device leasing programme called Upgrade in the U.S., in partnership with buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna, letting customers lease an iPhone for up to two years starting at $17.99 a month, an Apple Watch or iPad from $11.99, and a Mac from $24.99. Chatterjee called it a calculated move: "The new leasing program is a clever response: it doesn't reduce the price of an iPhone, but it changes how consumers perceive the cost by replacing sticker shock with a predictable monthly payment."
Apple is due to report its third-quarter earnings after markets close on Thursday, with analysts expecting a more than 15% jump in quarterly revenue from a year earlier. Apple previously held the title of world's most valuable company for much of the past decade after first overtaking Exxon in 2011, before being unseated by Nvidia in 2024 and briefly trailing Microsoft as well.
Its return to the top, and now to the $5 trillion mark, comes via a notably different route than Nvidia's: where Nvidia's valuation was built on surging AI infrastructure demand, Apple's climb rests on consumer demand and financial engineering around pricing, not AI capex.
