Apple briefly became the world's most valuable company yesterday, surpassing Microsoft in market capitalization for a few hours.
Apple, the first company to hit a $3 trillion market cap by early 2024, has been in Microsoft's shadow in recent months, but Microsoft's recent unveiling of its long-awaited AI platform at WWDC 2024 has propelled Apple to the top spot.
Apple's market capitalization hit a staggering $3.3 trillion, surpassing Microsoft's $3.2 trillion, but only for a few hours, after which Microsoft's stock price returned to levels seen in recent months.
Apple and Microsoft compete for top spot
Investors have been eagerly awaiting Apple's AI strategy, which rivals Microsoft and Google have been developing for more than a year. The company's shares surged more than 7% to a record high on Tuesday and rose another 2.8% on Wednesday.
The iPhone maker's generative AI solution, branded Apple Intelligence, consists of the usual text and image generation capabilities, but deeper integration enables a more personal experience and is partly processed on-device, in line with the company's ongoing commitment to privacy.
The nature of Apple Intelligence requires the company's most powerful chips, so it will be limited to M-series Macs and iPads. The technology also requires access to the A17 Pro chip, so it will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models.
Analysts predict this will boost sales of the new iPhones and create a new AI-driven cycle.
Apple's stock price is currently at $213.07, down from its post-WWDC high of $219.75 but up from its pre-WWDC high of $193.12.
But with alignment across the tech industry, Microsoft could benefit from Apple's AI announcement: Though rivals, Apple has committed to integrating OpenAI's GPT models into its own expanded AI capabilities, and with Microsoft investing heavily in the startup, all three companies could get a healthy boost.
