Apple of investors' eye

Apple is once again beating the ‘washed-up’ allegations.

Today, the maker of the laptop you’re probably reading this on became the second company ever to hit $5 trillion in market value during intraday trading, rising 0.94% and overtaking Nvidia as the biggest publicly traded company in the world.

The rally was spurred by reports that Apple is preparing a slew of new products, including a brand new Apple TV 4k streaming box and a HomePod mini. But the most anticipated upcoming release is a new Apple smart hub, which the company says will be ready to launch soon. It will connect to home appliances like lighting and thermostats, and use facial recognition to personalize the device for whoever is using it, according to Bloomberg.

Gizmos = growth: Right now, Apple makes far more money from its laptops, phones, and wearable devices than it does home products. The company is hoping this lineup of new contraptions, which Apple has been working to launch since 2024, could change that. These new products will compete with similar home devices from Amazon and Google.

Home improvement gadgets aren’t the only upgrade: Apple also announced a partnership with Klarna to allow customers to lease an iPhone for $17.99 per month.

Apples to oranges

Apple reaching the $5 trillion milestone is even more impressive considering how the rest of its Mag 7 peers are performing today amid a broad tech selloff.

Alphabet slid after upping its capex forecast last week, spooking investors about its gigantic spending bill. With Meta and Microsoft reporting earnings tomorrow, followed by Amazon and Apple on Thursday, investors are worried that they, too, will raise capex once again without anything to show for it.

But Apple has risen above the fray as investors applaud it for avoiding the spending spree that’s dragging the rest of the Mag 7 down. Apple’s capex this year is expected to be only $14 billion, a meager sum compared to the nearly $700 billion that Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are expected to spend over the same period.

Looking ahead: Tech earnings are just around the corner, and will be a key moment to see if Apple really is the new AI winner, or if hyperscalers still merit hyper-optimism.—LB