Microsoft Surpasses Apple to Become the Most Valuable Company in the World

Microsoft ended the trading session in the United States yesterday, Friday, as the most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing Apple, after the iPhone maker briefly surpassed them during Thursday’s intraday trading.

Microsoft’s stocks rose by over 3% this week, bringing the market value of the company to $2.89 trillion, while Apple’s stocks decreased by over 3%, reducing its value to $2.87 trillion.

James Cordwell, an analyst at Redburn Atlantic Equities, downgraded Apple’s rating to neutral from buy on Wednesday, indicating “limited room for growth in iPhone sales in the next few years.”

Apple announced on Thursday that former Vice President Al Ghurair will retire from the company’s board of directors next month after serving as director since 2003.

At the same time, Microsoft received a vote of confidence on Thursday after discussing its capabilities in artificial intelligence with developers at an event held in San Francisco.

Piper Sandler analysts told customers in a memo that they were “encouraged by the momentum surrounding the most mature artificial intelligence products” and noted that traffic on the GitHub website accelerated year after year for three consecutive months.

Apple remained the most valuable public company for over a year, with brief periods in which both Saudi Aramco and Microsoft held this distinction.