Apple's Stock Set a Record $355.38 on November 5--It Rose 6 Percent the Day After the Midterms on a Bet That Data Centers Slow and Memory Gets Cheaper, Then the AI Rout Took It to $342.37 by Friday, Still $4.975 Trillion Against Nvidia's $4.498 Trillion

2026November 8, 2026Macs Only!Apple business
The curved glass wall of the Apple Park ring building fills the left of the frame, its stacked floors and white bands reflecting wooded hills and a pale sky, with green and yellowing trees in the foreground at right and hills behind them.
Photo: Apple · The curved glass wall of the Apple Park ring building fills the left of the frame, its stacked floors and white bands reflecting wooded hills and a pale sky, with green and yellowing trees in the foreground at right and hills behind them.

Apple's stock rose 6 percent on November 4, the day after the midterm elections, to an all-time high of $354.33 and a market value above $5.12 trillion, by CNBC's live report of the session. It touched $355.38 on November 5, then the AI stocks sold off, and it closed the week on Friday, November 6 at $342.37, which CNBC's quote page for Apple puts at $4.975 trillion, against the $4.498 trillion its page for Nvidia shows. For a Mac buyer the reason the market gave matters more than the number: the bet was that a Democratic Congress slows the data-center building that has made memory scarce and Macs dear.

The day after the election, Apple rose 6 percent and Nvidia fell

CNBC's report of the November 4 session says: "Apple shares rose 6%, reaching an all-time high of $354.33 on Wednesday, pushing the company's market capitalization above $5.12 trillion." It credits "the sweeping Democratic win, which means slowing data center construction and easing pressure on memory chip prices," and calls Apple "an anti-AI play." The same report has Nvidia down 3 percent in the session and the newly elected governor of Texas, Gina Hinojosa, pledging an immediate moratorium on data centers. The Dow rose 1,569.40 points, 3.03 percent, to 53,356.12.

The rally came two days after Apple reported its fiscal fourth quarter, covered in our November 3 report: $114.5 billion of revenue, up 12 percent, which the shares had greeted by falling 3 percent in extended trading. Apple's press release has John Ternus calling fiscal 2026 "our best fiscal year ever" and Kevan Parekh citing "all-time record revenue of $479 billion." The title of most valuable company has passed between Apple and Nvidia since July 27, when CNBC's report of that day had Apple close above Nvidia for the first time since April 2025.

Thursday's rout cost Nvidia $440 billion and Apple far less

On November 5 the trade reversed. CNBC's count of the day has the Nasdaq down 5.5 percent into a correction and the "Magnificent Seven" losing more than $1 trillion of market value "with Nvidia leading the way at a loss of more than $440 billion," down more than 9 percent and negative for 2026. Apple's quote data on CNBC show the stock reached $355.38 that day, a new high, and closed at $344.17.

On Friday, November 6, by CNBC's live report of the session, the Nasdaq bounced 1.09 percent to 24,579.42 and Nvidia was nearly 3 percent higher; for the week the Nasdaq lost 3.4 percent, the S&P 500 2.7 percent and the Dow 0.9 percent. Apple closed at $342.37, down $1.80 or 0.52 percent. CNBC's pages put Apple at $4.975 trillion and Nvidia at $4.498 trillion, so Apple ended the week ahead by about $477 billion, by our arithmetic.

The bet is about memory, and so is the Mac's problem

The reason the market gave for Apple's day is the one Apple gave for its margin. The 10-K Apple filed on November 3 says the company "is experiencing supply constraints and rising costs driven by industry-wide supply-demand imbalances for key components," and adds: "The Company expects these trends to intensify for memory and storage components." Its cover counts 14,532,182,000 shares outstanding on October 23, so the $13.01 between Thursday's high and Friday's close is about $189 billion, by our arithmetic.

On the November 2 call, as MacRumors' November 5 report has it, Ternus said: "We have never sold more Macs in a fiscal year than we did this time, which is a truly remarkable testament to these incredible products," and Parekh said the MacBook Neo and MacBook Pro had been driving Mac sales. Our November 3 report had Apple forecasting Macs and iPads short on memory through December. If the data-center build-out slows, the memory Apple buys gets cheaper and the Macs get easier to find; that is the bet, and the week did not settle it.

Then and now

On November 8, 1999, Dana Baggett's whole item read: "Apple's Stock Closed Friday at 88 5/16, a record high." Her November 9 item had it blowing by 90 to close at 96 3/8, her December 2 item had it closing over 100, at 103 1/16, and the March 22, 2000 item had a record 134 15/16. Apple's investor FAQ lists five splits, two-for-one in 1987, 2000 and 2005, seven-for-one in 2014 and four-for-one in 2020, so the four since November 1999 divide that 88 5/16 by 112: about 79 cents in the shares of 2026, by our arithmetic, against Thursday's $355.38, roughly 450 times as much. A Mac maker whose stock rises when memory looks like getting cheaper is at least a company whose interests run with its customers'.

Sources

  1. CNBC, “Stock market news for Nov. 4, 2026” accessed Nov 8, 2026Live report by Sean Conlon and Hugh Leask, updated Wednesday November 4, 2026, 4:16 PM EST. The 3:09 PM EST entry by Deena Zaidi: "Apple shares rose 6%, reaching an all-time high of $354.33 on Wednesday, pushing the company's market capitalization above $5.12 trillion."; "The iPhone maker stands to benefit from the sweeping Democratic win, which means slowing data center construction and easing pressure on memory chip prices."; Apple has been considered "an anti-AI play". The main text: "Nvidia also dropped in the session by 3%."; "The Texas governor win by Gina Hinojosa, who's pledged an immediate moratorium in the key data center hub, added to the fears Wednesday."; "The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1,569.40 points, or 3.03%, to close at 53,356.12." Accessed November 8, 2026.
  2. CNBC, “Magnificent 7 loses $1 trillion. The most eye-popping stats from Thursday's tech stock plunge” accessed Nov 8, 2026Sean Conlon, Gina Francolla, Christopher Hayes and Nick Wells, published Thursday November 5, 2026, 5:10 PM EST, updated 6:39 PM EST: the Nasdaq fell 5.5 percent into correction territory; "The 'Magnificent Seven' lost more than $1 trillion in aggregate market cap, with Nvidia leading the way at a loss of more than $440 billion"; "Nvidia fell more than 9% and turned negative on the year, with its year-to-date fall now at 2.6%". Accessed November 8, 2026.
  3. CNBC, “Stock market news for Nov. 6, 2026” accessed Nov 8, 2026Live report by Sean Conlon, Jenni Reid, Lee Ying Shan and Paulina Likos, updated Friday November 6, 2026, 4:22 PM EST: the Nasdaq "bounced 1.09% to close at 24,579.42"; Nvidia "was nearly 3% higher after a 9% rout the day before"; for the week the Nasdaq lost 3.4 percent, the S&P 500 2.7 percent and the Dow 0.9 percent. Accessed November 8, 2026.
  4. CNBC, “AAPL: Apple Inc. - Stock Price, Quote and News - CNBC” accessed Nov 8, 2026Quote page read November 8, 2026, showing the Nasdaq session of November 6, 2026 (last_timedate 11/06/26 EST): last 342.37, change -1.80, -0.52%, previous close 344.17; 52-week high 355.38 on 11/05/26; market cap 4.975T; shares outstanding 14.53B. The 52-week high is the all-time high because CNBC's November 4 report called that day's $354.33 an all-time high and the quote data show the stock higher only on November 5. Accessed November 8, 2026.
  5. CNBC, “NVDA: NVIDIA Corporation - Stock Price, Quote and News - CNBC” accessed Nov 8, 2026Quote page read November 8, 2026, showing the Nasdaq session of November 6, 2026 (last_timedate 11/06/26 EST): last 186.64, change +5.04, +2.78%; market cap 4.498T. Accessed November 8, 2026.
  6. CNBC, “Apple ends day as world's most valuable company, passing Nvidia” accessed Nov 8, 2026Kif Leswing, published Monday July 27, 2026, 5:10 PM EDT: Apple topped Nvidia at market close for the first time since April 2025. Accessed November 8, 2026.
  7. Apple Newsroom, “Apple reports fourth quarter results - Apple” accessed Nov 8, 2026Press release of November 2, 2026: "quarterly revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12 percent year over year"; John Ternus: "capping off our best fiscal year ever"; Kevan Parekh: "all-time record revenue of $479 billion". Accessed November 8, 2026.
  8. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “Apple Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 26, 2026” accessed Nov 8, 2026Filed November 3, 2026 (accession 0000320193-26-000026). Cover page: "14,532,182,000 shares of common stock were issued and outstanding as of October 23, 2026." Item 1: the company "is experiencing supply constraints and rising costs driven by industry-wide supply-demand imbalances for key components," and "The Company expects these trends to intensify for memory and storage components." Accessed November 8, 2026.
  9. MacRumors, “Apple Announces a New Mac Sales Record - MacRumors” accessed Nov 8, 2026Joe Rossignol, Thursday November 5, 2026, 10:22 am PST: on the earnings call John Ternus said Apple sold more Macs in fiscal 2026 than in any previous fiscal year: "We have never sold more Macs in a fiscal year than we did this time, which is a truly remarkable testament to these incredible products"; CFO Kevan Parekh said Mac sales have been driven by the popularity of the MacBook Neo and MacBook Pro. Accessed November 8, 2026.
  10. Apple, “FAQ - Apple” accessed Nov 8, 2026"Apple's stock has split five times since the company went public. The stock split on a 4-for-1 basis on August 28, 2020, a 7-for-1 basis on June 9, 2014, and split on a 2-for-1 basis on February 28, 2005, June 21, 2000, and June 16, 1987." Accessed November 8, 2026.

Then and now

All pairings

Dana Baggett logged a record Friday close of 88 5/16 in November 1999; the record is $355.38 and the Friday close $342.37, about 450 times as much after four splits, in November 2026.

Also on November 8, other years

Every November 8 since 1997

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