Apple Stock Climbs Near Record High as iPhone Maker Holds $5 Trillion Crown While Nvidia Battles CEO Scandal

Apple Inc. shares rose nearly 2% on Wednesday, trading near record territory. The iPhone maker held a market value above $5 trillion as investors weighed its AI strategy and fresh borrowing to fund share buybacks.

Apple stock traded at $355.14 in afternoon trading, up 1.90%. That put the shares at about the top of their 52-week range.

$5 trillion club

Apple's market value above $5 trillion keeps it ahead of Nvidia as the world's most valuable company. Nvidia has been hit by a broad AI selloff and a scandal involving CEO Jensen Huang.

Apple first briefly topped $5 trillion in market value earlier this month, becoming only the second company to reach the milestone after Nvidia. The two companies have traded places several times since late October.

Investors have favored Apple as a safer technology stock. It has avoided the massive spending on AI data centers that has raised concerns about competitors' returns.

Ternus pushes Siri forward

Apple is accelerating its AI strategy under CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1.

Ternus is pressing software chief Craig Federighi to move faster and push Siri toward more capable, agent-like functions, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

Ternus has said Siri's new architecture gives Apple "real room to expand its capabilities over time."

Evercore ISI recently raised its price target on Apple to $380, keeping an Outperform rating. It cited the potential of Siri AI as Apple broadens the rollout. Chinese regulators also recently approved Apple Intelligence for use on additional devices in China.

Bond sale backs buybacks

Apple sold $7.5 billion of bonds last week in a seven-part deal, its first bond sale since May 2025. The offering drew about $31 billion in orders, more than four times the deal size, according to Bloomberg.

The company said in its filing that proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, including stock repurchases and dividend payments.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Robert Schiffman said: "Apple's return to the bond market appears more opportunistic than funding-driven, raising proceeds available for buybacks and dividends."

On Apple's Nov. 2 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said Apple is "no longer using net cash neutral as a target." That ends its long-standing goal of reducing cash until it matches debt.

Apple spent $85.8 billion on buybacks and $15.7 billion on dividends in fiscal 2026. In April, the board authorized up to $100 billion in additional repurchases.

Record results

Apple reported record September-quarter revenue of $114.5 billion on Nov. 2, with earnings of $2.10 per share, beating Wall Street estimates. Fiscal 2026 revenue reached about $479 billion.

The stock briefly fell after the report as investors focused on slowing services growth and projected lower margins tied to rising memory chip costs. It recovered quickly.

Apple shares go ex-dividend on Thursday ahead of a quarterly dividend of 27 cents per share, payable Nov. 16.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.