Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) have both lifted their quarterly dividends this month. Though dividend payouts are not their core highlight, the two tech giants have consistently returned value to shareholders and raised distributions repeatedly over the years.
Nvidia delivered a dramatic dividend hike, lifting its quarterly payout 25 times from $0.01 to $0.25 per share, far outpacing typical single-digit industry increases. The firm also added $80 billion to its share repurchase program with no expiry date. Together with the remaining $38.5 billion in existing authorization, its buyback scale has expanded notably.
The AI chip leader posted strong results for fiscal first-quarter 2027: revenue jumped 85% year-over-year to $81.6 billion, while net income more than tripled to $58.3 billion, representing a 71% net profit margin. The earnings only modestly beat analyst estimates. Combined with an earlier stock rally, the news triggered a share pullback, which has yet to reverse.
Nvidia currently trades at a price-to-sales ratio of nearly 21. Peer chipmakers are competing for market share in niche areas, but the company still dominates the AI processor space. Its hardware underpins mainstream AI applications, making it a sound long-term play for AI exposure. Even after the dividend increase, its yield stands below 0.5%, reflecting investors focus on growth rather than passive dividend income.
Apple announced a 4% quarterly dividend increase to $0.27 per share, with the new payment distributed on May 14. The company develops AI chips solely for internal use to power its hardware lineup. As the iPhone nears its 20th anniversary next year, hardware sales have seen double-digit growth, edging out the services segment.
The sales uptick is driven by user upgrades, as older devices cannot support Apple’s new AI system. The hardware boom is widely seen as temporary, while the company’s ecosystem-backed services business holds solid resilience. Boasting a $4.5 trillion market cap and $416 billion in annual revenue, Apple maintains steady operational fundamentals. Since resuming dividends in 2012 after a 17-year hiatus, it has raised payouts annually, and the latest move continues this streak. Its dividend yield is around 0.3%.
The twin dividend hikes underscore robust cash flows and solid operations at both firms. Nvidia offers superior growth potential led by AI, while Apple delivers stable performance via its mature ecosystem. Both stocks are worthy of long-term investment.
