Apple shares closed at a record $350.69 on Monday, 9 November, rising $8.32, or 2.43%, on the day and lifting the iPhone maker's market value to about $4.98 trillion, according to market data.

The shares opened at $344.99, touched $352.33 during the session and settled at $350.69, their highest closing price on record. The intraday peak of $355.38 set on 5 November still stands above Monday's high, but the close was the strongest the stock has ever recorded at the bell.

The rise put Apple back above Nvidia as the world's most valuable listed company. Nvidia, which had held the top spot, fell 4.27% on Monday to $178.67 and was valued at roughly $4.5 trillion, as investors weighed a board investigation into chief executive Jensen Huang.

Strong quarter behind the rise

Apple's advance follows a strong set of results reported on 2 November. Revenue for the September quarter reached $114.5 billion, up 12% on a year earlier, while diluted earnings per share rose 14% to $2.10, with growth in both hardware and services.

The figures beat expectations and helped the shares recover from a pullback earlier in November. Apple had closed at $342.37 on Friday, 6 November, after sliding from the intraday peak set the day before, so Monday's gain of 2.43% more than reversed the previous session's loss.

Apple also completed a $7.5 billion debt issue across seven series on 9 November, a routine financing that removes any uncertainty around the transaction while the company heads into its busiest selling season.

Rally leaves Nvidia behind

Monday was Wall Street's best day since April, with the S&P 500 up 2.35%, the Nasdaq Composite up 2.74% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1,104 points, or 2.15%. Apple was one of the session's steadier winners, rising while the chip sector's biggest name fell.

Nvidia's decline came after its board opened an independent review over the weekend, run by independent directors with outside counsel. Analysts described the fall as a governance discount rather than a verdict on demand for artificial intelligence chips, and the shares recovered from an intraday low of $170.24 to close at $178.67.

Apple's own exposure to the artificial intelligence trade is different. Its valuation rests on device sales, services revenue and the installed base of iPhones, rather than on data-centre chip orders, which left it insulated from the worries that hit chipmakers last week.

Holiday quarter is the next test

Attention now turns to the holiday quarter, traditionally Apple's strongest. Analysts expect revenue of about $159.5 billion for the quarter ending in January 2027, with earnings per share of about $2.96, according to consensus estimates.

Tuesday brings the October consumer price index, the last big test for markets before the Federal Reserve's December meeting. A hotter-than-expected reading could cool the rally that carried Apple to its record close, while a softer print would give investors more room to bet that interest rates have peaked.

For now, Apple stands at the top of the market again, with a value close to $5 trillion and a record close behind it.