Apple topples Microsoft as world’s most valuable company

Apple has taken over the crown of world’s most valuable company from Microsoft as its market capitalization on Friday morning was valued at about $1.065 trillion, edging past Microsoft’s $1.063 trillion.

Microsoft has held the market-value crown since April 25, when it beat estimates for quarterly earnings and breached the $1 trillion threshold for the first time, businessinsider.com reported.

The Cupertino, California-based company’s stock has surged in recent weeks as numerous analysts predict better-than-expected iPhone 11 sales.

Many firms anticipated consumers would skip out on Apple’s latest phone lineup to wait for rumoured 5G iPhones to release in 2020.

Further, Microsoft was caught in broad stock sell-off, falling as much as 2.2% on Friday. Apple was largely spared, declining just 0.4% at its intraday low.

Meanwhile, Interbrand has ranked Apple as the world’s most valuable brand name Friday and placed Microsoft in fourth place.

Google and Amazon took second and third place, respectively. The brand consultancy firm based its rankings on current brand strength, value added to the company by the brand, and future plans for the brand.

The report marked Apple’s seventh consecutive year at Interbrand’s top spot.

Apple became the first US company to break the $1 trillion valuation level in August 2018.

Apple traded at $235.37 per share as of 11:55 a.m. ET, up roughly 50% year-to-date.

The tech giant has 25 “buy” ratings, 17 “hold” ratings, and six “sell” ratings from analysts, with a consensus price target of $225.01, according to Bloomberg data.