‎“Microsoft” beats Apple as the largest US company by market ‎value

Apple stock fell, deepening its losses since the beginning of the year, amid concerns about iPhone sales and the stock’s prospects in the foreseeable future.

Apple shares ended last Thursday’s session down by 1.25%, to $181.91, bringing its losses since the beginning of the year to 5.5%, which means the company lost about $164 billion of its market value.

“Microsoft” is close to surpassing “Apple” as the largest American company in terms of market value, as the market value of “Microsoft” is $2.73 trillion, despite the company’s stock declining on Thursday, which is only $100 billion less than “Microsoft” Apple, whose market value reached $2.83 trillion

This comes after “Microsoft” shares rose by 57% during 2023 compared to 48% for “Apple” shares, but while the former declined moderately since the beginning of 2024, the latter’s losses were sharp after negative expectations regarding sales of “iPhone” and MAC devices.

Apple stock has fallen 4.3% so far this year, wiping out nearly $130 billion in market value.

On Tuesday, Barclays Bank analysts reduced their recommendation for the company’s stock to “underweight” from “equal weight,” warning of weak prospects for device sales.

Following in their footsteps, Piper Sandler analysts lowered their recommendation for the company’s stock, saying: “The weakness of overall conditions in China will affect the demand for iPhones, indicating that sales growth has reached its peak.”

Apple was the only major technology company to witness a revenue contraction over the past four quarters. Wall Street currently expects revenues to grow by 3.6 percent in fiscal year 2024 and profits to increase by 7.9 percent, according to an average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.