Apple Inc. is once again the world’s most valuable company – but at a much lower level than its former peak. The iPhone maker reclaimed the mantle of the world’s largest stock by market capitalisation on Tuesday, edging out Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for the first time in two months.
The list of the biggest names on Wall Street has been repeatedly shuffled this year, with each of the megacap technology names holding the top spot at some point.
The Cupertino, California-based company had a market capitalization of $821 billion on Tuesday after rising for five straight days, inching past Microsoft at $819 billion and Amazon at $816 billion. It was the first time Apple has had this distinction on a closing basis since 3 December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Apple rose 1,7% on Tuesday, while Amazon was up 1,7% and Microsoft rose 0,9%.
Disappointing iPhone sales have weighed on Apple over the past three months, causing the company’s market value to plummet more than its technology peers, allowing Amazon and Microsoft to jockey for the top spot.
Despite a recent rally fuelled by optimism following Apple’s fiscal first-quarter earnings report, the stock went down 26% from a record high in October, back when it had a market cap above $1,1 trillion. That translates into more than $300 billion in lost market value.
Not too far behind the top three is Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, which has a market cap of $785,7 billion. The company dipped 0,5% on Tuesday in the wake of its quarterly results. (Bloomberg)