There’s about to be a new king of the stock-market jungle.
Microsoft Corp. is set to become the most highly valued U.S. company ever, surpassing the record market capitalization set by long-time leader Apple Inc.
Microsoft’s stock
MSFT,
+1.56%
has been on a roll this year, as it has ridden the artificial-intelligence and cloud-computing wave. In contrast, Apple shares
AAPL,
+0.41%
have lost ground, as the iPhone maker’s reliance on consumers, which has been struggling, has led them to underperform their technology-giant rivals.
On Friday, Microsoft’s stock rallied 1.3% in afternoon trading to lift the company’s market capitalization to $3.12 trillion. That puts it on pace to surpass the current all-time market-cap high of $3.09 set when the stock closed on July 31, 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Microsoft’s market cap reaches $3.1 trillion, to surpass the previous record held by a U.S. company — Apple’s $3.09 trillion market cap.
FactSet, MarketWatch
As long as Microsoft’s stock closes up at least 0.4%, or at any price above $415.84, the market cap will break Apple’s record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Microsoft is set to be the first U.S. company with a market cap above $3.1 trillion, just two weeks after the market cap surpassed $3 trillion for the first time.
Meanwhile, Apple’s stock edged up 0.5% on Friday, for a market cap of $2.92 trillion.
Microsoft’s stock has rallied 11.6% year to date while Apple shares have lost 1.8%. In comparison, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index
NDX
has gained 6.7% this year and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
has increased 2.6%.
Read more here about how Microsoft’s recent earnings report was bullish while Apple’s results disappointed.