Apple briefly surpassed Nvidia on Friday, achieving a market valuation of $4.92 trillion compared to Nvidia's $4.86 trillion during early trading hours. However, Nvidia quickly regained the lead as trading progressed, ending the day with a market cap of $5.02 trillion, while Apple closed at $4.89 trillion, creating a narrow gap of approximately $130 billion between the two tech giants.
Apple's stock climbed by 1.76% to reach a new record of $333.26, while Nvidia's shares fell by 2.40% to $207.40. This fluctuation highlights a tightening race for market dominance, now closer than at any point throughout the year. Market tracker Barchart noted this brief shift in leadership during the early hours of trading.
Despite Nvidia's recovery, recent trends indicate diverging paths for both companies. Apple has seen a more than 7% increase over the past week, fueled by solid demand for the iPhone 17 and record-high revenues from its Services division, which reached $30.98 billion last quarter. In contrast, Nvidia's stock has decreased nearly 4% over the past month amid ongoing profit-taking after a substantial growth phase.
The Nasdaq 100 heat map on Friday illustrated this discrepancy, with Apple among the few tech stocks performing positively, while other major players, including Alphabet and AMD, experienced notable declines.
Fundamentals for both companies remain strong. Nvidia has reported exceptional quarterly revenues of $81.6 billion, marking an 85.2% year-over-year increase. This growth is largely driven by a 199% surge in data center networking as large-scale operators invest heavily in AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, there are no signs that demand for Nvidia's products has weakened, with continued growth in AI chip orders expected, as indicated by TSMC's positive guidance.
Looking ahead, Apple is set to report its earnings on July 30, while Nvidia's next earnings call is scheduled for August 26. This timing presents a one-month window where Apple can potentially influence market sentiment more strongly.
Analysts will closely monitor Apple's Service growth, revenue from Greater China, and any indicators regarding the anticipated iPhone 18 launch, which is currently priced at a 96% probability by Polymarket traders. As valuations come into play, Nvidia trades at approximately 22x forward earnings, with a PEG ratio of 0.6 and projected quarterly revenue of $91 billion, maintaining gross margins around 75%, significantly higher than Apple's.
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.
