Apple briefly surpassed a $5trillion (£3.77trillion) market valuation for the first time yesterday, becoming only the second company to reach the milestone.
Shares in the technology giant climbed to a session high of £258.20 on Tuesday, valuing the business at £3.79trillion, before easing to £255.52 and a market capitalisation of approximately £3.75trillion.
The milestone follows a 25 per cent rise in Apple’s share price since the start of the year, putting it ahead of fellow “Magnificent Seven” businesses including Nvidia, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft.
Nvidia was the first company to cross the £3.77trillion mark and had been the world’s most valuable listed business since June 2025. However, Apple overtook the chipmaker earlier this month as investors backed its consumer technology strategy.
Strong demand for Apple products, alongside the company’s decision to avoid the vast artificial intelligence infrastructure spending undertaken by several of its Big Tech rivals, has helped propel its valuation.
Apple has instead partnered with Google to provide AI technology for services including its revamped Siri assistant, reducing its exposure to the rising cost of building and operating data centres.
The retailer also held the price of its iPhone range steady last month, despite increasing prices across MacBooks and iPads.
Analysts said the decision had encouraged consumers to purchase the flagship handset ahead of potential further price increases later in the year.
The valuation milestone came on the same day Apple launched a new device-leasing programme in the US with payments provider Klarna.
The scheme allows shoppers to access an iPhone from £13.55 a month, an Apple Watch or iPad from £9.03, and a Mac from £18.82.
Forrester vice-president and principal analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said the programme allowed Apple to make its devices appear more affordable by replacing a large upfront cost with predictable monthly payments.
He added that Apple was betting on customer experience, rather than the scale of its infrastructure investment, to determine the winners of the AI race.
Apple is due to publish its third-quarter results after the US market closes on Thursday, 30 July, with analysts forecasting that quarterly revenue will rise by more than 15 per cent year on year.
Sterling figures are approximate and based on an exchange rate of $1 to £0.753.
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