Apple opens DOJ settlement talks | Same day, it retakes the No. 1 market-cap crown from Nvidia
TL;DR
Apple is in early talks to settle the DOJ's 2024 antitrust suit, having made multiple offers this year. The same day, Apple's ~$4.88T market cap edged past Nvidia's $4.86T to retake the world's most valuable title.
Apple is in early talks with the U.S. Justice Department to settle the antitrust suit filed against it in 2024. Bloomberg reported on July 17 that Apple has made multiple offers this year to end the case; talks are ongoing, but neither side guarantees a deal, and no trial date is set.
The DOJ sued Apple in 2024, accusing it of restricting broad-capability "super apps," hampering cloud gaming, preferencing its own Messages over third parties, and limiting third-party digital wallets and smartwatches. The Trump administration has pushed to settle many antitrust cases brought under the previous one — Stanley Woodward, the DOJ's No. 3 official overseeing antitrust, argues settlements save taxpayer money and bring consumers relief faster than years-long litigation. Apple has already made changes on some counts, including a mini-app mechanism and opening its iMessage ecosystem.
The same day brought Apple another piece of good news from the markets. Apple's market cap hit about $4.88 trillion on Friday, narrowly passing Nvidia's $4.86 trillion to retake the world's most valuable company title — a spot it last held in April 2025. The shift rode a pullback in chip stocks: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen nearly 19% from its highs as Wall Street questions the pace of AI-infrastructure spending. Apple's low AI capex is now treated as a virtue — it can reap consumer AI without betting on compute like the cloud giants.
Apple is up 22.8% year to date and 11.2% over the past 20 days, and that run is what pried the top seat in the $4-trillion club back out of Nvidia's hands.
via MacRumors / CNBC / Bloomberg
The DOJ sued Apple in 2024, accusing it of restricting broad-capability "super apps," hampering cloud gaming, preferencing its own Messages over third parties, and limiting third-party digital wallets and smartwatches. The Trump administration has pushed to settle many antitrust cases brought under the previous one — Stanley Woodward, the DOJ's No. 3 official overseeing antitrust, argues settlements save taxpayer money and bring consumers relief faster than years-long litigation. Apple has already made changes on some counts, including a mini-app mechanism and opening its iMessage ecosystem.
The same day brought Apple another piece of good news from the markets. Apple's market cap hit about $4.88 trillion on Friday, narrowly passing Nvidia's $4.86 trillion to retake the world's most valuable company title — a spot it last held in April 2025. The shift rode a pullback in chip stocks: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen nearly 19% from its highs as Wall Street questions the pace of AI-infrastructure spending. Apple's low AI capex is now treated as a virtue — it can reap consumer AI without betting on compute like the cloud giants.
Apple is up 22.8% year to date and 11.2% over the past 20 days, and that run is what pried the top seat in the $4-trillion club back out of Nvidia's hands.
via MacRumors / CNBC / Bloomberg
