Microsoft has temporarily overtaken Apple as the most valuable publicly traded company. This shift occurred during intraday trading on Thursday and was solidified by the end of Friday’s U.S. trading session. Microsoft’s robust performance in the stock market, with shares rising over 3% for the week, led to a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion. In contrast, Apple experienced a stock price dip of over 3%, resulting in a valuation reduction to $2.87 trillion.
The change in fortunes for Apple was influenced by a downgrade from Redburn Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell, who shifted the rating from “buy” to “neutral.” Cordwell expressed concerns about Apple’s limited iPhone growth potential in the coming years and anticipated underwhelming performance in the upcoming March quarter.
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In a separate announcement, Apple revealed that former Vice President Al Gore would retire from the company’s board next month, where he had served as a director since 2003.
Microsoft, on the other hand, received positive feedback on Thursday as it showcased its artificial intelligence capabilities at an event in San Francisco. Analysts expressed optimism about Microsoft’s mature AI products, highlighting positive trends in GitHub website traffic. Piper Sandler analysts gave Microsoft shares an equivalent of a “buy” rating, indicating a positive outlook for the company’s performance.
Apple has held the title of the most valuable publicly traded company for over a year, with only brief periods when others like Saudi Aramco and Microsoft temporarily surpassed it in market capitalization.
