Microsoft Is Now The World’s Most Valuable Company After Apple Falls On Earnings - Forbes

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Topline

Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world on Friday, supplanting Apple—which had held that position for more than a year—after shares of the iPhone maker plunged in reaction to its disappointing earnings report a day earlier.

Key Facts

Shares of Apple fell nearly 4% Friday morning to $147.10 per share, lowering the company’s market capitalization to $2.43 trillion.

Shares of Microsoft, meanwhile, rose 0.9% to $327.30 per share, giving it a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion.

Apple reported lackluster third-quarter earnings after the market close Thursday: Revenue fell short of expectations because of supply chain constraints, which the company said cost it $6 billion in sales.

Microsoft shares have risen over 5% since it reported an 11th straight quarter of better-than-expected earnings Tuesday.

Microsoft’s stock has widely outperformed Apple’s so far this year, rising 50% compared to just 13.5% for the iPhone maker.

Key Background:

Apple was the first company to exceed $1 trillion and $2 trillion in market value, milestones it hit in August 2018 and August 2020, respectively. The iPhone maker became the world’s most valuable company in July 2020 after it passed Saudi Arabian oil giant Saudi Aramco.

What To Watch For:

Several other companies have market values of over $1 trillion, including Google parent Alphabet ($1.95 trillion) and Amazon ($1.68 trillion). Electric car maker Tesla recently surged past $1 trillion as well. The ongoing run up in Tesla stock has made its cofounder and CEO Elon Musk the world’s richest person—not to mention the wealthiest in history—with a net worth of $286.8 billion, according to Forbes’ estimates.