On Wednesday, Apple once again became the most valuable company in the world, pushing Microsoft off the top spot. The Cupertino-based company has moved ahead in the race for dominance in artificial intelligence technologies.
Apple’s share price jumped by almost 4% to a record $215.04, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $3.29 trillion. At the time of writing, these figures rose to $217.31 and $3.33 trillion, respectively. At the same time, Microsoft’s market capitalization amounted to $3.24 trillion, losing ground to Apple for the first time in five months.
The rise in stock prices comes as the Nasdaq index hit a record high due to new signs of cooling inflation.
Apple shares rose by more than 7% during the previous session, a day after the company has unveiled a number of AI-enabled features and improved software for its devices at the WWDC conference. Several analysts say this move will boost iPhone sales.
«All of these questions about Apple’s AI lag were answered at the Worldwide Developers Conference,» said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
Apple is lagging behind rivals such as Microsoft and Google in the hotly contested field of artificial intelligence, which is why its stock has been priced slightly lower than its competitors this year.
However, some concerns about the stock’s weak performance eased after Apple beat market expectations for its quarterly results and outlook in May and unveiled a record $110 billion buyback plan. In 2024, Apple’s stock rose by about 12%, while Microsoft added about 16% and Alphabet almost 28%. But all of them are far from the growth rate of Nvidia’s share price, which has risen by a whopping 154% this year, and the company’s market capitalization has reached $3.11 trillion, briefly surpassing Apple’s market value last week.
Source: reuters