Apple’s surge came after its stock reached an all-time high of $269.20 before settling around $268.60, briefly pushing its market cap beyond $4 trillion. 

The company’s growth has been commendable, hitting $1 trillion in 2018, $2 trillion in 2020, and $3 trillion in 2022. 

Its latest increase was driven largely by strong sales of the iPhone 17 range, which analysts say is outselling previous models, particularly in China and India. 

The firm is also expected to report solid fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, with notable growth anticipated in services revenue, such as App Store, iCloud, and Apple Music, and wearables, including the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Vision Pro.

Microsoft, which had briefly slipped below the mark earlier this year, rebounded strongly following its renewed agreement with OpenAI. The deal has deepened the integration of OpenAI’s GPT models across Microsoft’s Azure and Copilot tools. 

According to the company, its 27% stake in OpenAI is now valued at approximately $135 billion, highlighting the scale of investor trust in the AI sector. 

Azure continues to be a central driver of Microsoft’s earnings, with enterprise demand for AI infrastructure and its Microsoft 365 Copilot suite pushing growth to new levels. The company will release its quarterly report on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Nvidia continues to lead the trillion-dollar race. The chipmaker was the first to reach the $4 trillion milestone in July 2025 and is now nearing $5 trillion in valuation. 

Its performance has been driven by global demand for its H100 and B200 GPUs, key components in training large-scale AI models. Nvidia’s place in the AI hardware market has made it the fastest-growing tech stock of the year.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is not far behind, trading at a market capitalisation of around $3.25 trillion. If the current growth in AI and cloud services continues, it could soon join Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and others in the $4 trillion valuation club.

The iPhone 17 lineup overtook last year’s iPhone 16 series by 14% in early sales across the United States and China, as the base model nearly doubled sales in China. 

Analysts say that promotional discounts and coupons from retail channels in China further spurred demand.

Apple stock climbed 4.5% to $263.70, lifting its market capitalisation to $3.91 trillion and placing it just behind Nvidia, which currently holds the top spot with a valuation of over $4 trillion. The company is now set to become the third in history to reach that level, alongside Microsoft and Nvidia.

“The recent launch of online orders in China may be a positive tailwind for the Dec-qtr, as initial delivery time data reflects stronger initial demand relative to other regions at launch,” Evercore ISI analysts wrote in a note. 

The brokerage recently added Apple to its Tactical Outperform List, pointing to expectations that the company will surpass Wall Street forecasts for its current quarter and deliver optimistic guidance for the next.

Apple has been working to recover ground in China after a slow start earlier this year. The tech giant had faced competition from Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro and rising nationalist opinion that favoured local brands.

But the decision to open direct online orders in China, combined with faster delivery times, appears to have reignited momentum in the region.

Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, said, “They rolled out the latest version of their iPhone and it’s doing much better than anticipated … the demand trends for the company’s iPhones are now on the front foot.”

In September, Apple unveiled its latest product range, including the thinner iPhone Air, while maintaining prices despite concerns over potential U.S. tariffs.

Earlier in the year, the company’s stock had been weighed down by trade issues and high import duties on goods from Asian manufacturing hubs such as China and India.

However, trust began to return in August after Apple announced a $100 billion investment plan in the United States, a move seen as both a strategic buffer against tariff risks and a reassurance to investors about its long-term outlook.

The rally in Apple’s shares also boosted suppliers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Hon Hai Precision, and LG Innotek.

Apple’s strong performance comes with a rally in the technology sector, driven by growing demand for AI chips, resilient consumer spending, and a change by investors towards mega-cap stocks. If the growth continues, Apple could soon join Nvidia and Microsoft in the elite $4 trillion club.

The company is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on October 30.