Apple is just $42 billion away from passing Nvidia as world's most valuable company

Apple just hit a record close while Nvidia shed billions in a brutal sector selloff, shrinking the gap between the two most valuable companies on earth to a fraction of what it was one week ago. According to 24/7 Wall St., Apple closed Thursday at a record $348.22, putting its market value at $5.082 trillion, just $42 billion behind Nvidia at $5.124 trillion.

About a week earlier, Apple needed a gain of about 7% to catch Nvidia. If Nvidia holds flat, Apple now needs about 0.83%, which works out to roughly $351.10 a share. Apple rose $4.23, or 1.23%, after setting an all-time intraday high of $348.36, while Nvidia fell $9.76, or 4.40%, to $212.21.

Apple has not passed Nvidia yet, and a small move in either stock could flip the order. Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon are far behind, leaving only two companies in this race. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.60%, or 694 points, to 26,008.86, its steepest daily drop since early June.

Michael O’Rourke of Jones Trading said this is the most widespread selling of the AI trade seen all year. On Thursday, Jensen Huang, the head of Nvidia, said demand from neocloud companies is off the charts but capital is scarce. Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, starts at $1,999 and sold out in minutes, with online orders showing delivery pushed to January 25.

Apple reports fiscal fourth-quarter results on November 2, while Nvidia reports around November 18. Watch your tech holdings as the two giants trade places at the very top of the market.

Photo: Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons