Apple surpassed Microsoft to reclaim the title of the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization, which it lost in January this year.
Today, Apple’s market capitalization reached $3.285 trillion, exceeding Microsoft’s $3.281 trillion. This marks the first time since January 2024 that Apple has held the top position.
This comes after Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company focused on its AI initiatives, revealed Apple Intelligence, and partnered with OpenAI, where they are not paying a single penny to the latter. This means that upcoming iPhone models will have AI features and are likely to increase customer spending and market share growth, which is what analysts believe, and Apple taking the top spot is proof.
Apple’s stock price rose by about 11% over a three-day period, its strongest performance since August 2020. This means a $323.9 billion gain in market capitalization.
BUT
It’s important to note that Apple’s year-to-date growth (11%) lags behind the broader technology sector, as exemplified by the Nasdaq 100 Index’s 16% increase.
Continuing on the darer note, other companies with a more established presence in AI, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta, have all outperformed Apple in 2024. NVIDIA, a leader in the AI field, has seen its stock price soar by over 160%, which recently snatched Apple’s 2nd spot as the most valuable company a couple of weeks ago.
Overall, the company’s ability to sustain this growth trajectory will depend on its continued development of AI technology and its success in delivering on investor expectations.