World's most valuable.. Microsoft briefly surpasses Apple | Technology

The company performs well MicrosoftThursday, give a brief introduction to the company camel The iPhone maker became the world's most valuable company for the first time since 2021 after a weak start to the year amid growing concerns about demand, Reuters reported.

Microsoft's stock price has risen sharply since last year, thanks to its early entry into the field of generative artificial intelligence by investing in OpenAI, the company that developed the famous chat program “ChatGPT”.

Microsoft's stock price closed up 0.5%, with a market value of US$2.859 trillion. The intraday increase was as high as 2%, and the company's market value once reached US$2.903 trillion.

Apple shares closed down 0.3%, giving the company a market capitalization of $2.886 trillion. For years, Microsoft and Apple have been vying for first place.

Davidson analyst Gil Loria said, “Microsoft surpassing Apple is inevitable because Microsoft is growing faster and can benefit more from the generative AI revolution.”

Microsoft has integrated OpenAI technology into its suite of productivity software, a move that helped spark a rebound in its cloud computing business in the July-September quarter.

Meanwhile, Apple has been struggling with weak demand, including for its biggest cash cow, the iPhone. Demand in China's key market has fallen as the country's economy slowly recovers from the epidemic and Huawei loses market share.

Brokerage Redburn Atlantic said in a note to clients on Wednesday that “China is likely to be a drag on performance in the coming years” and downgraded Apple stock to “neutral.”

Since the start of 2024, at least three of the 41 analysts covering Apple have downgraded their ratings.

As of last close, Cupertino, California-based Apple's shares were down 3.3% in January, while Microsoft's shares were up 1.8%.

Both stocks are considered expensive in terms of price-to-earnings ratios, a common way to evaluate public companies.

Apple's stock price peaked at $3.081 trillion on December 14, rising 48% at the end of last year. This is lower than the 57% increase recorded by Microsoft.

Microsoft has briefly moved ahead of Apple as the most valuable company on several occasions since 2018, including in 2021, when concerns about supply chain shortages caused by the coronavirus weighed on the iPhone maker's stock price.