Microsoft tops Apple as the world’s most valuable company

Apple Inc. was toppled aside from its throne as the world’s most valuable public company by Big Tech fellow, Microsoft, after the iOS developer’s market share fell on Friday by almost 2 percent.

The fluctuation arises from Apple’s financial report for the fiscal year 2021, revealing unusual results – despite failing to meet Wall Street’s earnings expectations – the iPhone parent took a withering $6 billion hit in its sales revenues in its fourth quarter (Q4).

Apple chief Tim Cook associated the financial throw down to the ever-growing global supply chain issues, insinuating the upcoming holiday season could potentially hold a much more damaging rippling effect driven by the crisis.

“Compared to less hardware-focused FAANG peers, Apple is also a lot more exposed to supply chain disruption,” equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Sophie Lund-Yates, said in a statement.

By the end of trading hours, the Big Tech giant’s shares fell by 1.8 percent, with value reaching $149.80 per share, granting the tech hub a $2.48 trillion market valuation.

In April, Apple disclosed plans of a bulky $90 billion share buyback after repurchasing $421.7 billion worth of shares in the past years. This transpired into a significant shrinking stock pool, ending the company’s fiscal Q4 with a whopping 16.4 billion shares.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s recent rise to claim its latest throne as a globally valuable company, was fundamentally driven by its shares’ growth, reaching a record high of $331.62 per share marking a 2.2 percent upsurge. The Windows developer currently stands at a $2.49 trillion market valuation, according to CNBC. 

Microsoft’s latest rise to power was amplified by consumers’ reliance on Office365, Windows, Teams, and various cloud products, catered by the giant’s deliverance on multiple frontiers during the COVID-19 pandemic’s hybrid work motion.

It is worth mentioning this is not the first time Microsoft surpassed Apple’s market cap.

In 2018, the iOS developer was overthrown by the software developer for the first time since 2010, and then more in July 2020.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that Apple was deemed as the market’s leader for quite some time now, as it is the first tech company to mark a $1 trillion market cap earlier in 2018, then two years later, it became the first U.S.-based company to hit the $2 trillion mark. 

The trading market sealed its gates with Microsoft’s stock valuation, exceeding 48 percent to date, all while Apple marked a significantly low rise of 13 percent in comparison to the software developer.

Despite Microsoft’s overthrown of Apple’s market reign, the iPhone parent will most likely set new goals of reconquering its sovereign power as the world’s most valuable Big Tech player by channeling innovative tactics to surpass the global chip shortage.