Microsoft tops Apple as world’s most valuable public company

Microsoft
ended
Friday’s
U.S.
trading
session
as
the
most
valuable
publicly
traded
company,
surpassing


Apple
after

briefly
topping
the
iPhone
maker
during
intraday
trading
Thursday.

Shares
of
Microsoft
climbed
more
than
3%
for
the
week,
bringing
the
company’s
market
cap
to
$2.89
trillion,
while
Apple’s
stock
dropped
by
over
3%,
lowering
its
valuation
to
$2.87
trillion.

Redburn
Atlantic
Equities
analyst
James
Cordwell

downgraded
Apple
to
neutral
from
buy
on
Wednesday,
citing
“little
room
for
upside
over
the
next
few
years”
in
iPhone
growth
and
an
“anticipated
underwhelming
March
quarter.”

Apple

said
Thursday
that
former
Vice
President

Al
Gore
will
retire
from
the
company’s
board
next
month
after
serving
as
a
director
since
2003.

Microsoft,
meanwhile,
got
a
vote
of
confidence
Thursday
after
discussing
its
artificial
intelligence
capabilities
to
developers
at
an
event
in
San
Francisco.
Piper
Sandler
analysts
told
clients
in
a
note
that
they
were
“encouraged
by
the
momentum
around
the
most
mature
AI
products”
and
mentioned
that
GitHub
website
traffic
has
accelerated
year
over
year
for
three
months
in
a
row.
The
analysts
have
the
equivalent
of
a
buy
rating
on
Microsoft
shares.

Apple
had
been
the
most
valuable
public
company
for
over
a
year,
following
brief
periods
when
that
distinction
was
held
by
Saudi
Aramco
and
Microsoft.

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