July 28 (Reuters) - Apple's market capitalization briefly surpassed $5 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, making it only the second company ever to achieve that milestone after Nvidia.
Its shares were last up 0.72% at $339.33, giving it a market capitalization of $4.98 trillion. At a session high of $342.89, Apple's market value stood at $5.036 trillion.
Apple became the most valuable company in the world earlier this month, overtaking chipmaker Nvidia - which had been at the top since June 2025 and was the first company ever to breach the $5 trillion threshold.
Nvidia's shares were last up 0.53% at $197.63, valuing it at $4.78 trillion.
Apple has benefited from strong demand for its products as well as its decision to skip the ongoing AI spending race among Big Tech rivals that is sapping their cash flows and saddling them with humongous debt.
Apple's stock has gained about 25% so far this year, outperformingother so-called "Magnificent 7" technology companies including Nvidia, Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft.
The iPhone maker has relied on Google's AI technology to power new services such as a revamped Siri, avoiding the hefty infrastructure costs associated with surging data-center investments.
Apple's decision to hold iPhone prices steady last month when it unveiled increases for MacBooks and iPads has also bolstered demand as buyers scooped up the company's flagship device ahead of expected price hikes later this year, analysts have said.
The company launched a device leasing program on Tuesday in the U.S. through payments firm Klarna, under which monthly payments start at $17.99 for an iPhone, $11.99 for an Apple Watch or iPad and $24.99 for a Mac.
"Apple has resisted the AI spending race, betting that customer experience — not infrastructure investment — will ultimately determine the winners," said Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
"The new leasing program is a clever response: it doesn't reduce the price of an iPhone, but it changes how consumers perceive the cost by replacing sticker shock with a predictable monthly payment."
Apple is set to report its third-quarter earnings after the market close on Thursday, with analysts expecting a more than 15% jump in quarterly revenue from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru and Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)
