Microsoft beats Apple to become World’s most valuable company at $2.49 trillion (=N=1.023 Quadrillion)

The flip flop status changes of the World’s most valuable company has the baton returning to Microsoft after the close of trading on business day Friday. In the last ten years, the baton of who is the World’s most valuable company has been rotating between IBM, Cocacola, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Microsoft passed Apple in market cap on Friday, making it the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, after Apple missed earnings expectations on Thursday. Microsoft had a market cap of nearly $2.49 trillion at market close, while Apple’s stood at about $2.46 trillion. Apple reported on Thursday that revenue missed Wall Street expectations in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, a result of supply chain constraints. CEO Tim Cook told CNBC’s Josh Lipton the revenue shortfall is estimated at $6 billion, but he expects worse supply chain issues in the December quarter. Sales of iPhones at the company were up 47% year over year but also fell short of analyst expectations. The company’s fourth quarter only included a few days of iPhone 13 sales. Microsoft beat revenue expectations in its fiscal first quarter, which climbed about 22% year over year. That was the fastest growth since 2018, CNBC previously reported. Apple was the first company to reach a $1 trillion and $2 trillion market cap. It became the world’s most valuable publicly traded company when it surpassed state oil giant Saudi Aramco in market cap last year. Microsoft last topped Apple in market cap in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on supply chains. It first closed above a $2 trillion market cap in June after revealing the first major update to Windows in more than five years. At market close, Microsoft’s stock was up more than 48% year to date, while Apple’s had risen almost 13%. Source. CNBC