Microsoft Surpasses Apple to Become "Most Valuable" Company Worldwide

Microsoft ended the trading session in the United States, Friday, as the most valuable publicly traded company, overtaking Apple, after the iPhone maker briefly topped the market during intraday trading on Thursday.

Microsoft shares rose more than 3% this week, bringing the company's market value to $2.89 trillion, while Apple shares fell more than 3%, reducing its value to $2.87 trillion.

Redburn Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell downgraded Apple to neutral from buy on Wednesday, citing "little room for upside over the next few years" in iPhone sales growth.

Apple said Thursday that former Vice President Al Gore will retire from the company's board of directors next month after serving as director since 2003.

Meanwhile, Microsoft received a vote of confidence on Thursday after discussing its AI capabilities to developers at an event in San Francisco. Piper Sandler analysts told clients in a note that they were "encouraged by the momentum around more mature AI products" and reported that GitHub traffic accelerated year over year for three consecutive months.

Apple has been the most valuable public company for more than a year, after brief periods in which Saudi Aramco and Microsoft held that distinction.

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