Apple tops $5 trillion market cap, only second company to hit the milestone

Apple (AAPL) on Tuesday briefly became just the second publicly traded company in history to hit a market capitalization of $5 trillion.

The tech giant hit the milestone less than a year after it topped the $4 trillion mark in October 2025.

Apple stock is up roughly 24% year to date and nearly 60% over the past 12 months on strong iPhone sales performance.

Investors have criticized Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple over the past few years over concerns that the company was too far behind in the AI race. While Apple initially debuted its Apple Intelligence platform in 2024, it delayed key parts of the software including an upgraded version of Siri.

That lead to executive shakeups at the company. Apple eventually signed a deal to use Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) Gemini AI models to power the voice assistant.

Apple is now expected to launch the overhauled Siri as a beta alongside its highly anticipated first foldable iPhone and the iPhone 18 lineup later this fall.

The company's lack of heavy AI exposure has meant it hasn't seen the same kind of explosive growth as some of its Big Tech peers since OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) released ChatGPT in November 2022.

Of the group, Nvidia (NVDA) stock has benefited the most, climbing about 1,125%, while Meta (META) stock rose around 386% and Google jumped 226%. Shares of Apple, meanwhile, increased 130% during that time.

But Apple was also insulated from some of the steep selloffs that its AI-focused rivals have faced. Microsoft (MSFT) stock, for instance, has struggled since hitting an all-time closing high of $542.07 in October 2025, falling roughly 28% on questions about AI spending and growth.

AI, however, has hit Apple in another way. The company, like much of the consumer tech industry, is currently contending with the AI-induced global memory and storage shortage.

That has forced Apple to raise prices on its Mac and iPad products, among others. And while the company hasn't increased iPhone prices yet, that could change with its upcoming smartphones.

All of this comes as Apple CEO Tim Cook prepares to hand over the reins to incoming CEO John Ternus on Sept. 1, marking one of the biggest leadership transitions in the company's history.

Jared Blikre contributed to this story.

Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on X at @DanielHowley.

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