Apple jumps past Nvidia in market value on data-center rules bet

How far did Apple and Nvidia move on Monday?

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) rose 2.4% on Monday to $350.69. That is a 52-week high, its highest price in the past year. Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) fell 4.3% to $178.67.

Why it matters: The split put Apple ahead. Apple added $120 billion in market value, ending at $5.1 trillion. Nvidia lost $190 billion and finished at $4.3 trillion.

By the numbers: Nvidia's drop stood out on a strong day. The S&P 500 jumped 2.3% and the Nasdaq-100 climbed 3.4%. Among the stocks tracked, 958 rose and 150 fell.

Why could tighter data-center rules favor Apple?

CNBC reported Friday that Democrats now control both chambers of Congress. Its report said tighter data-center restrictions could favor Apple. Apple's iPhone sales do not depend on a large build-out of data centers, the warehouses of computers that run AI services.

The same CNBC report said Nvidia could be hit earlier if data-center construction slows. Nvidia's chips fill those buildings, so fewer new sites could mean fewer orders.

CNBC also said hyperscalers, the largest cloud operators, could benefit. Tighter construction rules could raise the value of the capacity they already own and let them spend less.

What else has Apple done in recent days?

Apple sold $7.5 billion of high-grade bonds on Thursday, Bloomberg reported. High-grade bonds are debt from top-rated borrowers. Orders peaked at about $31 billion, Bloomberg said. The company plans to use the money for general purposes, including buying back its own shares.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Robert Schiffman called the deal "more opportunistic than funding-driven." He said shareholder returns rank above heavy AI infrastructure spending in Apple's priorities.

Reuters reported Monday that Apple registered Apple Intelligence, its AI features, for tablets and laptops in China. Chinese regulators cleared the features for iPhones in July. Reuters also said Apple trained a China-specific AI model with support from Alibaba Group. The companies expect those features to reach Chinese users in December through a software update.

What did the split do to a broad index fund?

Nvidia accounts for 4.8% of the value of the 500 largest U.S. companies. Apple accounts for 5.8%.

On $100,000 spread across those companies by size, Apple's gain added $140. Nvidia's drop took $207. The rest of the market carried the day: $100,000 in an S&P 500 fund added $2,350.

Nvidia has now dropped 25.3% from its 52-week high of $239.24, the highest price its shares reached in the past year.

What comes next?

What’s next: Nvidia shares rose 1.0% in after-hours trading, the thin session after the 4 p.m. ET close. Moves in that window often shrink or reverse once the full market opens at 9:30 a.m. ET.

October consumer prices are due at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The report could shape expectations for the Federal Reserve's next rate decision on Dec. 9.

The open question for Nvidia is whether data-center customers are still spending at the same pace. Its quarterly results on Nov. 17 could show it.