AI Demand, Earnings Optimism Drive May 2026 Rally for Tech Giants, Led by Apple and Micron

Technology behemoths, excluding Alphabet, saw a massive surge in market capitalization in May 2026, propelled by robust AI-chip demand and upbeat earnings forecasts. Apple (AAPL) added $598 billion to reach $4.58 trillion, buoyed by strong iPhone 17 and MacBook Neo demand and a $100 billion buyback plan announced in late April 2026. Memory chipmakers Micron Technology (MU) surged $512 billion to $1.09 trillion after analysts upgraded the stock on sold-out 2026 high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips and the production start of next-gen HBM4. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also vaulted $481 billion and $377 billion, respectively. Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) gained $315 billion and $276 billion, climbing to $3.35 trillion and $5.11 trillion, with Nvidia forecasting above-consensus Q2 revenue and unveiling an $80 billion share buyback. Bucking the trend, Alphabet (GOOGL) shed $59.77 billion to $4.59 trillion. Elsewhere, JPMorgan Chase dropped $130.47 billion to $921 billion, and Walmart fell $37.3 billion to $802 billion, the steepest declines among the world's 20 most valuable companies.