Apple once again became the world’s most valuable company as it dethroned Microsoft from the top spot. The iPhone maker pushed ahead in a race to dominate artificial intelligence technology as the company’s shares jumped nearly 4% to a record $215.04, giving it a market valuation of $3.29 trillion. Microsoft’s market capitalization stood at $3.24 trillion, falling behind Apple for the first time in five months. This comes as Nasdaq hit a record high on fresh signs of cooling inflation.
This comes as Apple’s annual developer conference saw executives, including CEO Tim Cook, promote AI in the company. Announcements including how voice assistant Siri would be able to interact with messages, emails, calendar as well as third-party apps, were made.
Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said, “All those questions about Apple lagging from an AI technology standpoint were answered at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Some of the specifics about AI capabilities that are going to be integrated into the upcoming iPhones made it very apparent that there will clearly be demand for a significant upgrade cycle.”
How have Apple shares performed this year?
Apple’s shares have risen about 12% so far in 2024, Microsoft added about 16% and Alphabet nearly 28%. Nvidia, which briefly overtook Apple’s market value last week, is up a whopping 154% this year. Tesla is the only other ‘Magnificent Seven’ stock that has fared worse than Apple this year, with an almost 30% slide.
