Microsoft briefly overtakes Apple as world’s most valuable company

Microsoft, during trading on Thursday, briefly overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable company after the iPhone maker’s share extended its weak start to 2024.

The American technology company, on Thursday, saw its share value rise by 1.6 percent — moving the market valuation to $2.875 trillion.

Microsoft’s surge has been attributed to its early lead in the generative artificial intelligence race, including its $1 billion investment in OpenAI in 2019.

On the other hand, Apple’s shares had dropped 0.9 percent, bringing its market capitalisation to $2.871 trillion — the lowest since 2021.

However, as trading progressed, Apple recovered, with its market capitalisation rallying to $2.87 trillion, while Microsoft fell behind with $2.84 trillion.

Earlier this year, on January 2, Apple shares fell 4 percent after Barclays downgraded the stock and trimmed its price target.

The drop was attributed to the weak sales of iPhones during the first week of 2024.

On January 3, 2022, Apple became the first American company to reach a market capitalisation of $3 trillion — and later peaked at $3.081 trillion on December 14, 2023.

The company also became more valuable than all cryptocurrencies combined.

As of Thursday, the combined value of cryptocurrencies stands at $1.7 trillion, according to data obtained from Coinmarketcap.