Apple Again Becomes The Most Valuable Company In The World, Defeating Microsoft

Apple is again the number one company in the world (photo: x @tim_cook)

Apple again became the most valuable company in the world on Wednesday, June 12. The Cupertino-based company shifted Microsoft from the top position. Now this iPhone manufacturer is advancing in the race to dominate artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Its AAPL.O shares jumped nearly 4% to a record of IDR 3,502,651.20, providing a market valuation of IDR 53,670 trillion. Microsoft's market capitalization was recorded at IDR 52,826 trillion, trailing behind Apple for the first time in five months.

The increase in stocks comes as tech-focused Nasdaq (IXIC) hit record highs amid new signs of easing inflation. Apple shares have risen more than 7% in the previous session, a day after the company launched various AI-capable features and software upgrades for its devices, which some analysts say will drive iPhone sales.

At Apple's annual developer conference on Monday, June 10, executives including Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted how Siri's voice assistant will be able to interact with third-party messages, emails, calendars, and apps.

"All questions about Apple that lag behind the AI technology side are answered at Worldwide Developers Conference," said Michael James, director of equity trading management at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "Some details about AI capabilities to be integrated into the upcoming iPhone make it very clear that there will be significant demand for an upgrade cycle."

The tech giant has lagged behind competitors such as Microsoft and Alphabet in the very hot AI sector, which is the reason why its shares performed poorly this year compared to its peers. However, some concerns over its weak stock performance eased after Apple surpassed market expectations for quarterly results and predictions in May, as well as announcing a buyback plan worth IDR 1,791,570 billion.

Apple shares have risen about 12% so far in 2024, while Microsoft is up about 16% and Alphabet is nearly 28%. Nvidia's AI chip leader, who had outperformed Apple's market value last week, is up 154% this year. Nvidia's latest market value was recorded at IDR 50,681 trillion. Tesla is another 'Magnificent Seven' only stock that performs worse than Apple this year, with a drop of about 30%.