Apple briefly reclaims top stock position amid AI announcements

Apple on Wednesday briefly reclaimed its position as the world’s largest company by stock market value, edging past Microsoft for a few hours before the Redmond-based tech giant regained the lead.

The surge in Apple’s stock price follows the announcement of new AI features during its annual developers conference on Monday. The company introduced Apple Intelligence, a new AI platform that will be integrated into the upcoming iOS 18 operating system.

This technology will only be available on Apple’s high-end devices, pushing customers towards premium-priced hardware to access the new capabilities.

Apple’s methodical approach to AI had cost it the top spot earlier this year. Microsoft overtook Apple in January, thanks to strong investor enthusiasm for its aggressive rollout of generative AI products under the CoPilot brand.

On Wednesday, Apple’s stock briefly pushed its market valuation to $3.26 trillion, momentarily surpassing Microsoft’s $3.27 trillion valuation. By the end of the trading day, Microsoft narrowly reclaimed the lead.

Analysts have been cautiously optimistic about Apple’s AI strategy. Initially tepid, they now believe that the new AI features will encourage many of Apple’s 1.5 billion users to upgrade their devices.

In an interview on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook elaborated on the company’s careful approach to generative AI. Speaking on the Marques Brownlee podcast, Cook noted, “It was always about pursuing it in a thoughtful way. We’ve implemented it in ways that are less likely to create issues on violating data privacy.”

Cook acknowledged that generative AI “has its downsides,” but emphasized that the technology “was never off the table” for Apple.

As the tech giants continue to vie for dominance, the competition between Apple and Microsoft underscores the significant impact of AI innovations on market valuations and consumer expectations.