The share price of Microsoft ended Friday with a higher value than Apple’s for the first time since 2021, making it the world’s most valuable company for the first time since the beginning of the year, as concerns about demand hit Apple’s stock price.
A 0.2% rise in Apple’s share price was reported on Friday, while a 1% increase in Microsoft’s. According to the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), Microsoft’s market capitalisation now stands at $2.887 trillion, which is its highest level ever, putting it among the world’s biggest companies.
As a result of these concerns about smartphone demand, Apple’s shares have fallen 3% in 2024, despite the fact that they rallied 48% in 2023. A significant increase in Microsoft’s shares was seen due to its investment in OpenAI, which boosted its shares by approximately 3%.
OpenAI’s technology has been incorporated into a number of Microsoft’s productivity software solutions, helping the company’s cloud-computing revenue to rebound in the July-September quarter following a decline in the previous quarter.
There is also the possibility that it could challenge Google’s dominance of the web search industry as a result of its AI leadership.
The Chinese market has been slow to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for Apple’s iPhone, as a result of the slow recovery of the country from the epidemic, and Huawei’s resurgence.
The stock price of Apple has been negatively affected by concerns over supply chain shortages in 2021, which has briefly eclipsed Microsoft as the most valuable company since 2018, affecting the stock price of the iPhone maker.
It is important to note that both Apple and Microsoft are trading at high prices in relation to their expected earnings, which indicates that both companies are highly valued. Microsoft’s forward PE is 32 times greater than its 10-year average of 24 times, while Apple’s forward PE is 28 times greater than its 10-year average of 19 times.
During Apple’s most recent quarterly report in November, the company announced that its holiday sales would be modest, falling short of Wall Street expectations as a result of weak demand for iPads and wearables.
In the December quarter, analysts predict Apple’s revenue will rise by 0.7% to $117.9 billion. This will mark the first time in four quarters that Apple’s revenue has increased year-over-year.
A 16% increase in Microsoft’s revenue is expected to be reported this year, driven by continued growth in its cloud business, leading to a 61.1 billion dollar gain.
That news provided by timenews.
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