Microsoft Briefly Overtakes Apple As Most Valuable Tech Company

Share price movements on Thursday saw Microsoft briefly overtake Apple to become the most valuable tech firm in the world.

Microsoft’s share price rose 1.6 percent on Thursday, giving it a market capitalisation of $2.875 trillion, before falling to $2.83 trillion as of 5pm GMT.

Apple meanwhile saw its share price fall slightly over concerns about weak demand, but as of 5pm GMT the iPhone maker was worth $2.86 trillion.

Share price

It was the first time since 2021 that Apple’s valuation has fallen below that of Microsoft, after concerns about Covid-impacted supply chain shortages two years ago had dented the iPhone maker’s stock price.

Microsoft meanwhile has been slowly reaping the benefits from its early lead in the AI sector, thanks to its heavy investment in OpenAI over the years.

Apple meanwhile is worrying investors over concerns that sales of the iPhone, its biggest money maker, will remain weak, especially in the major market of China.

It should be remembered that Apple had become the first publicly listed US company worth $1 trillion back in August 2018.

Then in August 2020, as the Coronavirus pandemic was engulfing the world, Apple breached the $2 trillion valuation.

Then in January 2022 Apple became the first company ever to (briefly) reach the $3 trillion market capitalisation milestone, after its shares hit a record high of $182.88.

However, it soon dipped below the $3 trillion mark.

Rival tech stocks

But Microsoft and Apple are not alone as being a tech company valued over a trillion dollars.

Rivals including Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet (Google’s parent) have also breached the $1 trillion market valuation.

Amazon for example is currently worth $1.58 trillion, and Alphabet is currently worth $1.77 trillion.

Tesla is currently valued at $720 billion down from $1.20 trillion in 2022, but Saudi Aramco is still the most valuable company in the world, valued at $7.94 trillion.

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms breached the $1 trillion milestone in June 2022 but is currently valued at $937 billion.