Microsoft just beat out Apple to join Nvidia in the elite $4 trillion club

By Emily Bary

Nvidia became a $4 trillion company in July, and Microsoft followed on Tuesday. Apple isn't far behind.

Microsoft and Apple were neck and neck they looked to hit the $4 trillion market-cap mark, but Satya Nadella's company pulled ahead on Tuesday.

Microsoft Corp. just became the second U.S. company to close a trading session with a $4 trillion market capitalization. And pretty soon, there could be a third.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) were racing to cross the $4 trillion mark and join Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) in that elite club, but Microsoft achieved the feat on Tuesday. Apple is within a hair of the stock price needed to hit the milestone.

Nvidia has moved more rapidly between trillion-dollar marks. The chip company first closed with a $1 trillion valuation in June 2023, then took 180 trading days to reach $2 trillion. From there, the company needed 66 more trading days to hit the $3 trillion mark and 273 more trading days to close with a market cap of $4 trillion in July. Now Nvidia has a valuation north of $4.9 trillion.

By contrast, Apple needed 516 trading days to move from $1 trillion to $2 trillion and 719 trading days to move from from $2 trillion to $3 trillion. It's been 584 sessions since the company first achieved a $3 trillion valuation.

Microsoft, meanwhile, needed 543 trading days to go from $1 trillion to $2 trillion, and 650 trading days beyond that to go from $2 trillion to $3 trillion. It hit the $3 trillion threshold 441 sessions ago, on June 30, 2023, and while the company briefly traded above $4 trillion at two points this summer, it didn't finish there until Tuesday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Apple's stock needs to finish above $269.54 for the company to clinch a spot in $4 trillion territory. While Apple briefly saw its stock trade above the requisite level on Tuesday, it closed the day at $269.

Don't miss: Why the last skeptical Microsoft analyst just changed his tune on the stock

The two companies have powered to fresh records despite investor concerns about some parts of their businesses. Apple is seen by some on Wall Street as behind the curve on artificial intelligence, as the company has had to delay certain advanced AI features by more than a year. And Microsoft's cloud-computing business is cruising, but there are some worries about the future growth trajectory as OpenAI looks for other, cheaper partners.

See more: Microsoft's stock now looks like 'free money,' an analyst says. Here's why.

Both companies have the opportunity to quiet doubters this week, with Microsoft due to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday and Apple following with its own results a day later.

Microsoft is coming off its "best print in recent memory," according to Jefferies analyst Brent Thill, who sees the potential for the company to beat consensus expectations for 38% Azure growth in Wednesday's report. The September quarter is seasonally the weakest for Microsoft, Thill said, but he thinks AI can overshadow that.

More from MarketWatch: Microsoft's stock is in need of a jolt. Here's how earnings could fuel a breakout.

Apple is coming off an upbeat report, as well, and the "key question for this earnings [report] will be whether the strong June quarter result was a one-off or if something more structural is happening with the iPhone replacement cycle," wrote Gabelli Funds portfolio manager John Belton.

Read on: The surprising stocks leading the tech sector this year thanks to an AI renaissance

-Emily Bary

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10-28-25 1630ET