Falling Less to Take the Lead
On Oct. 30 Eastern Time, Apple shares fell 1.2% to a market cap of about 5.029 trillion dollars; Nvidia plunged 4.2% to about 4.941 trillion dollars, a gap of about 100 billion dollars. After about 3 months, Apple again overtook Nvidia to reclaim the No. 1 spot among global listed companies. The switch was not driven by a sharp rally in Apple, but by a relatively limited decline amid broad pressure on tech stocks, highlighting diverging market views on different AI investment strategies and rising concerns over massive capital spending and the pace of payback.
Avoiding Heavy Capital Spending to Preserve Cash
Compared with Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta racing to expand AI data centers, Apple has not invested in infrastructure buildout on the same scale. According to Apple financial data, purchases of property and equipment in the first 9 months of fiscal 2026 were about 6.8 billion dollars, while operating cash flow reached about 117 billion dollars, showing ample cash generation. As AI infrastructure investment continues to swell, investors have begun to re-examine tech companies' capital expenditures, free cash flow and returns on investment. Apple's relatively restrained spending strategy has reduced direct pressure on cash flow from large-scale data center construction and has been one factor behind the stock's recent relative resilience. Year to date, Apple shares are up about 26.7%, leading the Magnificent Seven.
Earnings Focus on Dual Core Drivers
Market focus is shifting to Apple's fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter results, due after the close on Nov. 2 Eastern Time / early morning Nov. 3 Taiwan time. According to LSEG, consensus expects quarterly revenue of about 1133.9 hundred million dollars, up nearly 11% year on year; net income of about 290.4 hundred million dollars, up about 6%. Of that, iPhone revenue is estimated at 565.4 hundred million dollars, up about 15%; services revenue is seen reaching 315.6 hundred million dollars, with the two core businesses remaining key growth drivers. With only about 9 days of new iPhone 18 Pro sales included in the quarter, investors are more focused on the year-end holiday season outlook, as well as demand and supply progress for the first foldable phone, iPhone Duo.
New CEO to Host Call for First Time
This will also be new CEO John Ternus's first time hosting the earnings call, with the market focusing on Apple's AI strategy and cash flow, Siri revamp progress, and the impact of rising memory costs on gross margin. As tech giants continue to increase artificial intelligence investment, whether Apple's core business can keep growing will be a key test for supporting a market cap of over 5 trillion dollars, making the results and outlook worth watching closely.