Microsoft overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company in January 2024.
Microsoft briefly moved ahead of Apple by market capitalization on January 11, 2024. The ranking reflected changing share prices and investor enthusiasm for Microsoft’s cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence businesses, particularly its close relationship with OpenAI and the integration of AI features into its products.
Apple remained one of the world’s most valuable companies, but concerns about iPhone demand, especially in China, weighed on its shares at that time. Market-cap rankings can change quickly because they depend on stock prices rather than a fixed league table.
Microsoft and Apple have alternated near the top several times. The result also depends on whether figures use intraday prices or closing prices, which is why reports about “the largest company” can describe different moments on the same day.