The iPhone maker briefly overtook Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company as investors favored Apple’s lighter AI spending model, China AI progress and stronger product outlook.Apple Gains As AI Spending Concerns Hit NvidiaApple briefly reached a market value of about $4.9 trillion, while Nvidia slipped as investors reassessed heavy AI infrastructure spending and reacted to pressure across chip stocks.The iPhone company stock gained about 23% this year, outpacing other Magnificent Seven names, while Nvidia has risen about 9%. The move reflects a shift in investor focus toward companies that can benefit from AI without committing massive capital to data centers and chips.Analysts See Apple’s AI AdvantageHSBC upgraded Apple to Buy, saying the company is well positioned to use its 2.5 billion installed-device base with its revamped Apple Intelligence. The firm told the Financial Times on Friday that Apple’s AI boost comes as the company has one of its most innovative product pipelines in place.The firm also noted that Apple spends far less on capital expenditures than hyperscalers, giving it a cleaner setup as investors question the returns on AI infrastructure spending.BRI Wealth Management’s Toni Meadows told Reuters on Friday that sentiment has shifted around Apple. She said investors once viewed Apple as an AI laggard because it was not spending heavily to build models, but now see the company as better positioned to monetize AI through services, ecosystem loyalty and hardware upgrades.Technical AnalysisFrom a trend perspective, Apple is still extended to the upside: it’s trading 8.8% above its 20-day SMA ($305.52) and 21.2% above its 200-day SMA ($274.22), which is the kind of spacing that often invites mean-reversion pullbacks even in strong uptrends. The longer-term structure remains constructive with the 20-day SMA above the 50-day SMA and a golden cross (50-day above 200-day) that occurred in September 2025.Earnings & Analyst OutlookThe countdown is on: Apple Inc. is set to report earnings on July 30 (confirmed).