Apple has reclaimed its position as the world's most valuable public company, surpassing Nvidia following a broad sell-off in the technology sector. Investors are favoring Apple due to its relatively modest spending on AI infrastructure compared to its peers, which mitigates concerns regarding the return on investment for such capital expenditures.
Nvidia's market capitalization fell by 4.22% to $4.93 trillion, while Apple's stock price declined by 1.23% to $344.63 per share. This shift resulted in Apple achieving a market valuation of $5.03 trillion. Apple's shares have risen by 26.77% since the beginning of the year, whereas Nvidia's stock has seen a more modest increase of 9.73% over the same period.
The market correction was triggered by quarterly earnings reports from Intel, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta. While companies like Alphabet and Amazon have faced negative free cash flow due to heavy AI-related investments, Apple is projected to see a 38% increase in free cash flow to $142 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30.
Broader market indicators reflect the current volatility, with the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 6.7% in October, marking its worst monthly performance since March 2025. Other industry players have also suffered significant losses, with CoreWeave and Nebius losing over 30% of their market value, and Intel shares declining by more than 45% in October.
