Tech giants add billions in May as AI chip demand drives market rally

Most of the world’s largest technology companies added billions of dollars in market value in May, led by gains in Apple, Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as demand for artificial intelligence chips and stronger earnings outlooks supported share prices.

Alphabet was the only major technology company in the group to record a decline during the month, with its market value falling by $59.77 billion to $4.59 trillion.

Apple posted the largest increase among the technology companies, adding $598 billion in market value and taking its valuation to $4.58 trillion.

Memory chipmaker Micron Technology gained $512 billion, lifting its market value to $1.09 trillion.

Samsung Electronics added $481 billion to reach a valuation of $1.10 trillion, while SK Hynix gained $377 billion, taking its market value to $1.34 trillion.

Apple had pointed in late April to strong demand for its iPhone 17 and MacBook Neo and announced a fresh $100 billion share buyback.

Samsung reported an eightfold increase in first-quarter operating profit in April.

Micron also drew analyst upgrades after saying its 2026 high-bandwidth memory chips had already sold out and that next-generation HBM4 products were in production.

Microsoft and Nvidia also recorded gains in May.

Microsoft’s market value rose by $315 billion to $3.35 trillion, while Nvidia added $276 billion to reach $5.11 trillion.

Nvidia had forecast second-quarter revenue above expectations in May and announced an $80 billion share repurchase programme.

Among the world’s 20 most valuable companies across sectors, JPMorgan Chase and Walmart recorded the largest declines in market capitalisation during May.

JPMorgan Chase lost $130.47 billion in market value, bringing its valuation to $921 billion.

Walmart’s market capitalisation fell by $37.3 billion to $802 billion.