According to Reuters, Apple has surpassed Microsoft to become the most valuable company in market capitalization as the trading closed on June 13.
Apple’s market capitalization has exceeded that of Microsoft, taking the top spot. This comes after Apple’s stock price rose by 8.8% over four trading days following the announcement of its generative artificial intelligence (AI), Apple Intelligence, at this year’s World Developers Conference (WWDC2024) held on June 10. However, it’s pointed out that Apple ultimately needs to increase iPhone sales to maintain its position.
On June 13, Apple’s stock ended trading at $214.24, up 0.55% from the previous trading day. As a result, Apple’s market capitalization increased to $3.29 trillion, surpassing Microsoft’s market capitalization of $3.28 trillion. This marks the first time since January that Apple has reclaimed its position as the most valuable company in the U.S.
Although Apple’s market capitalization surpassed Microsoft during trading on June 12, it was not until the end of trading that day that Apple’s market cap exceeded that of Microsoft.
Apple’s return to the top spot in market capitalization comes just a week after Nvidia overtook Apple to become the second most valuable company. With Apple becoming the most valuable company, Nvidia has become the third most valuable company, following Apple and Microsoft.
While Apple has surpassed Microsoft to regain its top spot in market capitalization, it faces the challenge of increasing iPhone sales equipped with Apple Intelligence to maintain its position. If Apple includes Apple Intelligence in its most expensive models and applies it to the iPhone 16, more consumers are expected to upgrade their iPhones. The iPhone 16 is expected to be released this fall. However, considerable skepticism exists.
David Vogt of UBS pointed out, “Apple Intelligence alone is not enough to accelerate the iPhone replacement cycle.” Brandon Nispel of KeyBanc Capital Markets also analyzed, “We will all eventually own a new iPhone, but the lack of appealing features means consumers are likely to hold onto their older iPhones longer to save money.”
Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein also predicted, “Apple’s AI feature could accelerate the upgrade cycle of the iPhone 16,” but added, “The release date of the new iPhone equipped with Apple Intelligence is unclear.”
