By Laura Bratton
Publication Date: 2026-01-08 15:47:00
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) has officially overtaken Apple (AAPL) as the second most valuable company in the world.
The company closed Wednesday’s trading session with a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, topping Apple’s $3.85 trillion. It marked the first time the Google parent company has surpassed the iPhone maker in value since 2019.
Alphabet widened its lead Thursday with its $3.9 trillion market cap above Apple’s $3.8 trillion, as shares in the latter fell nearly 2% in intraday trading.
Alphabet-owned Google has recast its image from a fading internet giant to a leading AI innovator. Although the company was initially seen as threatened by more nimble AI rivals, especially OpenAI (OPAI.PVT), Google has used its scale to reassert leadership in the AI space — across both cutting-edge software and custom hardware. Its AI chips, known as TPUs, have become one of the largest competitive threats to Nvidia (NVDA), as they attract interest from Meta (META) and Anthropic (ANTH.PVT). And Google’s latest Gemini 3 AI model widely outperformed rivals on industry benchmark tests.
Alphabet was the top-performing “Magnificent Seven” Big Tech stock in 2025, notching a 65% gain, followed by Nvidia’s 39% surge. Analysts expect Alphabet to continue as a top-performing stock in 2026.
Meanwhile, Apple is contending with a number of executive departures as it prepares for life after the expected upcoming departure of CEO Tim…