Apple market cap topped $5 trillion on Wednesday, October 14, the first time the company has held that level at the close. Its shares finished at $342.96, up 0.5% on the day, according to 9to5Mac, which put the market capitalisation at about $5.01 trillion. Apple is now the second company to pass that mark after Nvidia, which first did so in October 2025.
Apple market cap compared with Nvidia.
Apple had crossed $5 trillion during trading several times before, but it had never held that level through the close. MacRumors, citing the Wall Street Journal, counts six earlier intraday crossings. Nvidia still leads, with a market value of about $5.33 trillion, according to MacRumors. Benzinga reports that Nvidia's lead over Apple shrank by nearly $570 billion across six sessions, falling from about $903 billion on October 6 to $334 billion on October 14.
On the same day, Nvidia fell 3.16%. Benzinga attributes the broader selloff in AI-linked stocks to concerns about infrastructure spending and rising borrowing costs. The same article notes that demand remains strong, pointing to TSMC's earnings beat as evidence. Prediction markets on Polymarket moved as well. Apple's odds of being the largest company at the end of October rose from about 5% early on Wednesday to 22% by Thursday, although trading volume on that contract was thin.
A leadership change in the background.
The milestone came just over a month after John Ternus succeeded Tim Cook as chief executive, MacRumors reports. It also arrived two days before pre-orders for what the outlet calls the iPhone Duo. Neither event is shown to have caused the rise, and MacRumors notes that its article does not say whether either contributed. Apple briefly passed Nvidia as the most valuable company in July, before Nvidia regained the top spot.
Why a record close matters.
A market value this large is a rough measure of how investors judge a company's future earnings. For Apple, that judgement rests on its iPhone business, its services and its newer devices. Only two companies have ever closed above that line, which is part of why the milestone draws attention. Stock prices also move with interest rates and sector sentiment, so a single record close does not prove a change in the underlying business. Investors who follow the market from abroad often need to convert closing times into local hours, and the free world clock at /en/world-clock makes that simple.
What is still unknown.
The reporting does not explain the share count or how the market value was calculated, and MacRumors notes that its figures rest on the reported closing price. The record also rests on one trading day, and Apple has crossed the line intraday before without holding it. Benzinga's prediction-market figures rest on thin trading, which limits what they reveal about the outcome. Whether it stays above $5 trillion will depend on the sessions that follow.