On Friday, during the first hours of trading, a landmark event occurred in the stock market: Apple (AAPL) briefly surpassed Nvidia (NVDA) in market capitalization, becoming the world's most valuable company. Apple's market cap reached $4.92 trillion compared to Nvidia's $4.86 trillion. However, by the start of the main trading session, Nvidia regained its lead with a market cap of $5.02 trillion versus Apple's $4.89 trillion. The gap between the giants narrowed to minimal levels — around $130 billion.
This episode marked the culmination of a fierce battle for leadership that has been observed since the beginning of the year. Apple shares rose 1.76% to a record $333.26, while Nvidia's stock fell 2.40% to $207.40. The dynamics of the companies were opposite: AAPL shares gained more than 7% over the past week, while NVDA lost nearly 4% over the month amid profit-taking by investors.
Capital Flow from AI Sector to Defensive Assets
The key factor is a massive sell-off in the chip sector that began in early July. On the Nasdaq 100 heat map, Apple was one of the few mega-cap companies in the green zone. Alphabet fell 4.44%, Broadcom dropped 5.03%, and AMD declined 5.33%. Investors are taking profits after Nvidia's historic rally and shifting funds into more stable assets, such as Apple.
Meanwhile, Nvidia's fundamental indicators remain impressive. The company's quarterly revenue was $81.6 billion — 85.2% higher than a year ago. The data center segment grew by 199%, and the Blackwell 300 platform is gaining momentum. TSMC raised its forecast, indicating a sustained flow of orders for AI chips. However, investors prefer to lock in profits after historic growth, despite NVDA's business continuing to accelerate.
Apple Bets on Services and China
Apple's stock growth is supported by strong demand for the iPhone 17 and record performance in its services division, which generated $30.98 billion last quarter. The company also hit a new all-time high amid an AI memory shortage, as buyers shifted to the premium segment. The key driver remains the Chinese market, where revenue reached $25.53 billion, and the announcement of the iPhone 18, which has a 96% probability this year according to Polymarket.
Technical Analysis and Outlook
On the daily chart, Apple shares hit new all-time highs, breaking through key resistance at the $315 level. This level had capped gains in May and mid-July and could now act as support during potential pullbacks. The daily RSI has risen above 70, indicating a clear dominance of bulls but also signaling a possible local correction. The upward move began after a bounce from the $275-280 zone, which had been resistance since February.
My view as an analyst: Apple's short-term surge is more a result of temporary capital flows from the overheated AI sector than fundamental superiority. Nvidia still demonstrates much higher growth rates (PEG 0.6 versus 32 for Apple) and a gross margin of around 75% compared to Apple's 49%. However, the next trigger is Apple's report on July 30. Strong results in the Services and China segments could solidify the gains, but if weaknesses emerge, Nvidia will have a chance to pull ahead again before its August report.