Gold is a raw material used in the production of manufactured goods. Which is the literal definition of a commodity. It's not a productive asset either. For the

Gold is a raw material used in the production of manufactured goods. Which is the literal definition of a commodity. It's not a productive asset either. For the most part investment in gold doesn't produce returns. It's considered something that people hope will stay (roughly) at the same real value because it's scarce. Apple stock on the other hand takes raw materials like people and chemicals and produces computing devices that are extraordinarily useful. That transformation is the definition of production. The stock value is a NPV calculation of the future earnings of that productive enterprise, which is the interaction of expectations of the enterprise as well as a guess what the cost of capital will be, iterated over many years into infinity. Just because of the math involved and the iterative nature of the calculation tiny changes in expectations can cause large present value changes, but that isn't really material to the general concept of the enterprise as an ongoing means of producing new, novel, value in the world.