The Economic Times·2026-01-08 02:42Core Insights - Alphabet Inc. has surpassed Apple Inc. to become the world's second most valuable company by market capitalization for the first time since 2019, with a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion [4] - Alphabet's Class A shares (GOOGL) closed at $322.04, reflecting a 2.45% increase on the day, and a remarkable 64.73% return over the past year [4] - Apple Inc. currently holds the third position with a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, with its stock (AAPL) declining by 0.76% to close at $260.36, and a 1-year performance of 7.49% [4] - Nvidia Corporation remains the leader in market valuation with a capitalization of $4.59 trillion, driven by strong demand for its GPUs amid the AI boom [4] - Alphabet's growth in market value is supported by the increasing adoption of its generative AI platform, Gemini, and its ownership of Waymo, a key player in the U.S. robotaxi market [4] Company Performance - Alphabet's market capitalization is $3.88 trillion, with 12.07 billion shares outstanding [4] - The stock performance of Alphabet has significantly outperformed many peers, achieving a 64.73% return over the past year [4] - Apple has 14.78 billion shares outstanding, with a 1-year stock performance of 7.49% [4] - Nvidia has 24.3 billion shares outstanding, with a stock increase of 25.32% over the past year [4] Market Dynamics - The tech industry's valuation leaderboard has seen a major reshuffle, with Alphabet overtaking Apple [4] - The rise in Alphabet's market value is attributed to the success of its generative AI platform and its commercial robotaxi services through Waymo [4] - Nvidia's strong market position is fueled by the demand for GPUs, particularly in the context of the AI boom [4]