Apple Inc. briefly surpassed a $4 trillion market valuation on Oct. 28, making it only the third publicly traded company in history to reach the milestone, alongside Nvidia and Microsoft.
The Cupertino-based tech giant’s shares ticked up just enough to cross the historic threshold, closing the trading day at $3.99 trillion. The achievement comes amid strong demand for Apple’s latest iPhone models and easing concerns over trade and regulatory pressures.
Key Highlights
- Apple briefly hits $4 trillion market value, joining Nvidia and Microsoft. Nvidia leads with a $4.88 trillion market value, driven by AI demand.
- Shares rise modestly in early trading before settling at $3.99 trillion.
- Strong iPhone 17 sales in the U.S. and China underpin the rally.
- Apple’s stock has gained roughly 7.5% in 2025, lagging peers Nvidia (50%), Alphabet (42%), and Meta (28%).
- Microsoft surpasses $4 trillion market cap again, boosted by a $135 billion valuation of its OpenAI stake.
Apple’s market surge driven by iPhone 17
Apple’s milestone comes after a period of underperformance relative to other Big Tech companies. The stock had struggled early in the year due to concerns over AI development and potential impacts from U.S.-China trade tensions. Apple’s shares lost more than $310 billion in market value in a single trading day in April.
The tide turned in recent months. The release of Apple’s iPhone 17 line, including the slim iPhone Air, sparked brisk sales, particularly in China, where the devices sold out within minutes. Analysts point to robust consumer demand and stronger-than-expected lead times for new models. “Our checks suggest this may be more than the average iPhone refresh cycle, as lead times for the base iPhone 17 continue to outpace last year’s levels,” said analysts at Evercore ISI. “In addition, our survey work points to a strong demand environment.”
Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management, added, “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.”
Apple’s gains were further supported by favorable legal and trade developments. A federal judge allowed Google to continue preloading its search engine on Apple devices, ensuring billions in annual payments to the company. Apple has also largely avoided tariffs imposed during President Donald Trump’s trade policies, partly due to diversifying its manufacturing footprint to India and Vietnam and maintaining strategic ties with the administration.
Navigating Tariffs and Lawsuits
Apple’s rise to $4 trillion wasn’t solely driven by product sales; two external factors also boosted investor confidence.
First, the company appears to have successfully navigated the complexities of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, largely due to its proactive strategies. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee highlighted the company’s favorable positioning, writing in a Monday note: “Announcement of an increased pace of domestic investment in combination with a rapid shift in product manufacturing for the US market outside of China (India, Vietnam) has improved Apple’s positioning in the tariff landscape.”
Second, a federal judge’s ruling in early September was a significant legal victory. The decision allowed Google to continue paying Apple billions of dollars annually to keep its search engine preloaded on devices, including the iPhone. This revenue stream, often overlooked, offers a powerful financial floor for Apple’s Services division.
AI concerns: Why Apple trails its peers
Despite reaching the $4 trillion milestone, Apple’s valuation story remains fundamentally different from its rivals.
While Apple has historically dominated record-breaking valuations, hitting $1 trillion in 2018, $2 trillion in 2020, and $3 trillion in 2022, it has lagged behind competitors in artificial intelligence (AI), a key driver of current tech stock rallies. Nvidia, a leader in AI chips, and Microsoft, with its OpenAI stake, both surpassed the $4 trillion mark earlier this year. Nvidia now sits at $4.88 trillion, while Microsoft’s market cap is around $4.03 trillion.
Apple’s AI efforts, in contrast, have been slower and less defined. Reports of senior AI executive departures to Meta, a delayed Siri overhaul until next year, and the sluggish rollout of its “Apple Intelligence” suite have concerned investors. “It’s clear to us that (CEO Tim) Cook & Co. has finally found success with iPhone 17 and now the Street awaits for the grand strategic AI roadmap to be unveiled,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in an Oct. 20 note.
The market concern is simple: is an iPhone cycle enough to sustain this valuation premium? The answer from Northlight’s Zaccarelli suggests a clear mandate from Wall Street: “The lack of a well-understood artificial intelligence strategy is clearly one of the things that is an overhang for the stock. If they could figure out how to incorporate artificial intelligence in a way that would excite consumers and the market, you’d see a whole different company.”
For now, the powerful consumer franchise is enough. Apple’s history shows it can define new categories, having been the first company to reach $1 trillion (2018), $2 trillion (2020), and $3 trillion (2022). Its latest rebound, fueled by a simple, beautifully designed piece of hardware, proves that in the age of generative AI, the oldest growth engine in tech still has enormous power.
Apple Q4 Earnings validate the turnaround
Apple’s momentum received its strongest endorsement on Oct. 30, when the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street consensus.
Total quarterly revenue came in at $102.5 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.85 also beating analyst estimates.
The iPhone revenue hit a September quarter record of $49 billion, while the high-margin Services revenue also reached an all-time high. The market’s excitement peaked when CEO Tim Cook delivered an upbeat forecast for the critical December holiday quarter, projecting 10% to 12% revenue growth, which is significantly higher than the 6% analysts had modeled.
This strong financial and guidance beat confirmed that the positive sentiment driving Apple’s stock past $4 trillion was grounded in a genuine product cycle, not just speculation.
