Apple Surpasses Microsoft on Wall Street

Apple officially whizzed past Microsoft yesterday, becoming the number one technology company in market value.
Microsoft still makes more money, has higher profits and cash, but on Wednesday, the stock market gave Apple a value of $222 billion to Microsoft’s $219. Quite a moment for Apple—a company once left for dead by many analysts a decade ago before Steve Jobs returned and put the company back on track by launching the iPod.
The only American company valued higher is Exxon Mobile with a market valuation of $279 said The New York Times, which eloquently summed up the situation as, “one of the most stunning turnarounds in business history for Apple.”
Even though Microsoft’s net income is $15 billion to Apple’s $6 billion and Microsoft’s cash and short term investments is $40 billion to Apple’s $23, and the software giant’s revenue is $58 to Apple’s $43, the stock market sees Apple as the more valuable (or it did on Wednesday), said the Times.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s reaction was to state only, “We are executing very well, that’s going to lead to great products and great success,” said The Wall Street Journal.
Apple has beaten Sony in digital music and digital music players, it’s giving Nintendo a run for its money, it’s helping to knock cellphone giants like Nokia off their game and is rocking the nascent eReader market, giving Amazon plenty to worry about. Apple recently re-invented the tablet PC with the iPad, causing competitors like Microsoft, to scrap or delay their own planned tablets.
But Apple still has Google to worry about. Google’s market value is $151 billion. The Times reports Google has a lead on Apple in Internet-connected TVs and Cloud computing. The newspaper quoted analyst Tim Bajarin as stating, “The battle has shifted from Microsoft against Apple to Apple against Google. Apple has a significant lead. But Google is going to be a powerful competitor.”
Sources: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal