Microsoft Once Again Most Valuable Company in U.S. 

Microsoft Corp. has overtaken Apple Inc. as the most valuable company in the U.S. for the first time in more than a year, topping $2.44 trillion in market capitalization Friday (Oct. 29), according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. 

The flip-flop happened when Microsoft published a better-than-expected earnings report earlier this week, while Apple reported supply chain snafus are slowing production of its iPhones and other key products, although it still had a 12-month record profit of almost $100 billio.  

This is the first time Microsoft’s market capitalization has been higher than Apple’s since July 2020, Dow Jones Market Data shows. Microsoft’s 20% share of the global cloud computing sector trails only Amazon’s 40% share, according to Gartner research cited by WSJ in its report. 

Microsoft had a long stint as the world’s most valuable company in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with a peak market capitalization of $614.7 billion in December 1999. Its fiscal 2021 performance was its fourth straight year of double-digit revenue growth, the first time it’s done that since fiscal 2004. 

Apple was the first public company to top the $2 trillion market capitalization threshold in August 2020, two years after hitting $1 trillion. Microsoft became the second U.S. member of the $2 trillion market cap club in June after the Seattle tech giant had hit $1 trillion in April 2019. 

Related: Microsoft Goes Passwordless 

Last month, Microsoft rolled out a new feature to let users remove passwords from its accounts and will eventually be passwordless. Users can sign into Microsoft accounts with a Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, a security key or an SMS/email verification code instead of a password. 

Microsoft debuted password-free authentication for users in March. 

Also Read: Apple Says Supply Chain Woes Cost $6B in Fiscal Q4; Expects Shortages to Get Worse 

Meanwhile, Apple said Thursday afternoon (Oct. 28) that its latest quarterly earnings results took a $6 billion supply chain hit and expects a prolonged issue in that area.  

CEO Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said on the company’s quarterly earnings call that the COVID-19 disruptions have “improved materially” this month since the company’s Q4 and fiscal year ended Sept. 30, but they expect prolonged issues with the chip shortage.