Apple closes in on $4 trillion market cap ahead of Nvidia

Analysts anticipate tech giant will cross historic threshold early next year

Apple holds a market cap of $3.858 trillion. Reuters

Apple shares climbed to a new high on Monday, as the iPhone maker is racing towards becoming the first company to reach a $4 trillion market valuation, ahead of its tech rivals Nvidia and Microsoft.

Apple stock reached its all-time high of $255.65 a share shortly after opening bell on Monday before ending the day at $255.27.

In a client note before trading opened on Monday, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told clients in a note that he believes Apple will cross the $4 trillion threshold in early 2025. Mr Ives said Nvidia and Microsoft would join soon after, noting that Wedbush anticipates tech stocks to be up another 25 per cent in 2025 under their base case.

Apple's market cap was $3.858 trillion after trading closed on Monday. Nvidia and Microsoft held market caps of $3.420 trillion and $3.236 trillion.

The California-based company has faced criticism in the past for not being as fast as its competitors in shifting towards artificial intelligence. Its stock has doubled in the past two years, compared to Nvidia, whose stock has increased more than 800 per cent.

Apple began making its new AI features, known as Apple Intelligence, for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 users in October. Apple chief executive Tim Cook told analysts during a call in October that the new feature was the start of a new chapter for the company.

“This is just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do and I couldn't be more excited for what's to come,” Mr Cook said.

Apple began incorporating OpenAI's ChatGPT into its devices this month. The company also released four iPhone16 models that are equipped with the chips necessary to use AI features.

Wedbush analysts expect the strong demand from Apple's AI-powered iPhone could lead to more than 240 million sales in the fiscal year 2025. It would be the company's highest unit sales ever.

Apple drew $94.9 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter the last fiscal year, of which $46.22 billion came from the iPhone. Sales in the devices were up 6 per cent from the previous year.