Fueled by AI dominance: Microsoft briefly overtakes Apple as world’s most valuable company

Thanks to its investments on AI, Microsoft briefly surpasses Apple as the world’s most valuable company, slightly exceeding its market capitalization of nearly $2.9 trillion

Microsoft briefly surpassed its competitor Apple to become the world’s most valuable company on Thursday as the momentary shift highlighted the contrast between a company driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and one facing concerns about iPhone sales.

In the early moments of the Wall Street market opening, the market capitalization of the Windows operating system creator reached almost $2.9 trillion, slightly exceeding Apple, as calculated by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Microsoft’s time at the top was short-lived, quickly returning to the second position. Nevertheless, this event underscored how the growing interest in AI has influenced investors’ perspectives on these two companies.

The success of the Redmond, Washington-based group is attributed in part to its partnership with OpenAI, the developer of the generative AI interface ChatGPT, in which Microsoft holds nearly half the capital.

Since the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, Microsoft’s shares have seen a substantial increase of almost 75%. During the same period, Apple experienced a commendable, albeit more modest, rise of 35%.

With the launch of various products leveraging generative AI, such as through its Bing search engine and Copilot virtual assistant, Microsoft has capitalized on the capabilities of ChatGPT, contributing to its market success. Conversely, Apple has faced market apprehensions about sustaining its historical growth.

Recent concerns about a potential slowdown in iPhone 15 sales, particularly in China, a key market for Apple, led to an analyst at Barclays revising their outlook for the stock. Redburn Atlantic analysts also shifted their opinion from “buy” to “neutral” due to apprehensions about limited growth in the upcoming years and mixed results for the current quarter.

While Apple has surpassed the symbolic threshold of three trillion dollars in market capitalization multiple times since January 2022, the company regularly engages in substantial share buybacks, which, when canceled, reduces the number of shares in circulation and lowers its market capitalization.

Source: AFP