The power of AI! Microsoft's market value is about to surpass Apple, just one step away from the top spot.
Currently, Microsoft's market value is $100 billion lower than Apple's, and the gap between the two has narrowed to its smallest in over two years.
As Apple suffers two downgrades, Microsoft has quietly caught up.
Currently, Apple still holds the top spot in the US market with a market value of $2.73 trillion, while Microsoft ranks second with a market value of about $100 billion lower than Apple.
According to FactSet data, Apple's market value has been higher than Microsoft's since November 22, 2021, but the gap between the two has now narrowed to its smallest level.
In the full year of 2023, Microsoft's stock price has risen by 57%, surpassing Apple's 48% increase.
Benefiting from the AI boom, Azure's cloud computing business has been a major factor in supporting Microsoft's stock price increase over the past year.
In addition, strong corporate spending and a long-term partnership with OpenAI have also contributed to the rise in Microsoft's stock price. Last year, the inaugural developer conference and the "power struggle" drama within OpenAI's leadership team catalyzed Microsoft's stock price to reach new all-time highs.
Since the beginning of this year, the overall performance of tech stocks has been unfavorable, with Apple facing particularly severe challenges. This week, it has been downgraded twice by investment banks, resulting in a market value loss of $160 billion in three days.
On Wednesday, Barclays analyst Tim Long and his team downgraded Apple's stock rating to "underweight" in their latest report, marking the first time the bank has downgraded Apple to this rating since 2019.
On Thursday, Harsh Kumar, the chief analyst at Piper Sandler, who has been bullish on Apple for the past three years, also downgraded Apple's rating, citing the weak macro environment that will suppress demand for the iPhone.
In overnight trading, Apple fell 1.3%, marking a four-day consecutive decline to its lowest level since November 7. It has fallen more than 5% in the past three trading days. Microsoft fell about 0.7%, with a cumulative decline of about 1.7% this week.