Apple tops Microsoft in value after best 3-day run since 2020
- It is the first time since January that Apple closed higher than Microsoft, and represents the latest reshuffling of Wall Street’s largest stocks
Apple overtook Microsoft to regain its title as the world’s most valuable company, the latest sign of improving investor sentiment over its growth and position with artificial intelligence.
The milestone followed a blistering rally, including Apple’s biggest three-day advance since August 2020. It closed with a market capitalisation of US$3.285 trillion, compared with Microsoft at US$3.282 trillion. This is the first time since January that Apple closed with a higher market value than Microsoft, and it represents the latest reshuffling of the ranks of Wall Street’s largest stocks. Earlier this week, Apple closed in third place behind Nvidia.
“People have a high degree of conviction that they will be an AI winner, and it seems like this is a market where if you’re an AI winner, you’re being bid up a lot,” said Rhys Williams, chief strategist at Wayve Capital Management. “I assume both Microsoft and Apple will be somewhat of a horse race for the foreseeable future with Nvidia also in contention.”
The Cupertino, California-based company rose 0.6 per cent on Thursday, its third straight positive session, which also included the largest one-day percentage gain since November 2022 on Tuesday. The three-day jump of about 11 per cent added a staggering US$323.9 billion to its market capitalisation. That is bigger than all but a handful of components in the S&P 500 Index.
Microsoft rose 0.1 per cent on Thursday.
The catalyst for the gains was Apple’s AI-focused Worldwide Developers Conference presentation on Monday, which fuelled hopes that customers will pay up for the next generation of iPhones, spurring a long-awaited rebound in growth. Revenue fell 4.3 per cent in Apple’s fiscal second quarter, the fifth contraction in the past six quarters.
