Apple rose from third place in July 2025 to reclaim the global market-cap lead about 14 months after it last held the top position.
Apple reclaimed the top position in the global market-cap ranking on July 27, 2026. FactSet data published by Axios put Apple's value at about $4.95 trillion, ahead of Nvidia at about $4.76 trillion. It was Apple's first return to the top since May 2025, roughly 14 months earlier.
The recovery followed a sharp change in the ranking. In July 2025, Nvidia was first with a market value near $4 trillion, Microsoft was second at $3.74 trillion, and Apple had fallen to third at $3.14 trillion.
Apple rose as Nvidia retreated
The reversal reflected moves in both companies. Axios reported that Nvidia shares had fallen about 17% from their May peak, erasing roughly $950 billion in market value. Apple, meanwhile, gained more than 20% over the three months through mid-July, the strongest performance among the Magnificent Seven over that period.
Bloomberg reported that concern about whether heavy AI infrastructure spending would deliver sufficient returns had changed how investors viewed Apple. Its decision to stay out of the data-center spending race was increasingly seen as an advantage rather than the weakness investors had criticized a year earlier.
iPhone demand supported the rebound
Apple's latest reported results also showed stronger growth. Revenue for the quarter ended March 28 rose 17% from a year earlier to $111.2 billion, while diluted earnings per share increased 22% to $2.01. The company reported a March-quarter record for iPhone revenue and an all-time high for Services revenue.
Apple briefly crossed $5 trillion in market value on July 28, becoming the second publicly traded company after Nvidia to reach that level.