Apple is closing in on a historic $4 trillion stock market valuation, powered by investors cheering progress in the company’s long-awaited AI enhancements to rejuvenate sluggish iPhone sales.
The company has pulled ahead of Nvidia and Microsoft in the race to the monumental milestone, thanks to an about 16% jump in shares since early November that has added about $500 billion to its market capitalization.
The latest rally in Apple shares reflects “investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and an expectation that it will result in a supercycle of iPhone upgrades,” said Tom Forte, an analyst at Maxim Group, who has a “hold” rating.
Valued at about $3.85 trillion as of the last close, Apple dwarfs the combined value of Germany and Switzerland’s main stock markets.
The Silicon Valley firm, driven by the so-called iPhone supercycles, was the first U.S. company to hit previous trillion-dollar milestones.
In recent years, the company has attracted criticism for being slow to map out its artificial intelligence strategy, while Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms have pulled ahead to dominate the emerging technology.