Microsoft dethrones Apple as the most valuable US company

Microsoft CEO Satya NadellaReuters/Shannon Stapleton

• Microsoft surpassed Apple as the most valuable US company. 
• Its market value was about $814 billion. 
• Watch Microsoft and Apple trade live.

Microsoft surpassed Apple as the most valuable company in the US, reaching a market capitalization of about $814 billion. Apple’s market cap was slightly less. 

It’s a somewhat surprising turn of events as less than two months ago Microsoft’s topped out at $887 billion while Apple’s reached a peak above $1.12 trillion — just one month after becoming the first US company with a $1 trillion valuation.

But a lot has happened since then as the stock market suffered through Red October, one of its worst months since the financial crisis, with the Nasdaq Composite shedding more than 12%.

Microsoft has managed to hold up better than other high-flying tech names after its first-quarter results showed that it continues to follow through on the vision of CEO Satya Nadella, who when he took over in 2014 said he wanted to focus on its subscription-based businesses and the cloud. And while the sales growth of its cloud-computing unit, Azure, grew at its slowest pace in at least two years, it was still up 76% annually, remaining the strongest rival to the dominant Amazon Web Services. Microsoft shares are down 8% from their September close.

But Apple has gotten mauled amid fears of slowing demand for its iPhones. Shares have tumbled into a bear market, down nearly 24% from where they closed September as several suppliers have cut their forecasts, citing a drop in smartphone demand. 

This story is developing…

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