Microsoft tops Apple as world’s most valuable public company

13.01.2024

Microsoft concluded Friday’s U.S. trading session as the most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing Apple after briefly overtaking the iPhone maker during intraday trading on Thursday.

Microsoft’s shares rose over 3% for the week, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $2.89 trillion, while Apple’s stock dropped by over 3%, reducing its valuation to $2.87 trillion.

Redburn Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell downgraded Apple from buy to neutral on Wednesday, citing “little room for upside over the next few years” in iPhone growth and an “anticipated underwhelming March quarter.”

On Thursday, Apple announced that former Vice President Al Gore would retire from the company’s board next month after serving as a director since 2003.

Meanwhile, Microsoft received a vote of confidence on Thursday after discussing its artificial intelligence capabilities with developers at an event in San Francisco. Piper Sandler analysts, in a note to clients, expressed being “encouraged by the momentum around the most mature AI products” and noted that GitHub website traffic has accelerated year over year for three consecutive months. The analysts maintain the equivalent of a buy rating on Microsoft shares.

For over a year, Apple had held the title of the most valuable public company, with brief periods when that distinction was held by Saudi Aramco and Microsoft.