With the close of the market bell today and with some help from Wedbush, Apple has changed the stock market's dynamics in just a month by beating Microsoft to become the world's most valuable technology company. Today's share price movement comes less than a month after NVIDIA beat Microsoft and claimed the top spot at the market valuation pyramid. However, Wall Street's apparent profit taking ahead of the summer holidays and the earnings seasons meant that this was short lived, and as of now, NVIDIA is the third most valuable company in the world after Microsoft.
Apple's Shares Gain Close To 2% During Trading, Allowing It To Cross Microsoft In Market Value
Apple's shares had a roller coaster ride on the market today as they were down by 1.59% half an hour after markets opened. However, a fresh report from Wedbush, one of the firm's biggest bulls, appeared to have injected fresh life into the stock as it gained 1.85% from then to the closing bell and allowed the world's biggest technology company by revenue to also become the most valuable.
In his latest take on Apple, Wedbush's Apple permabull Dan Ives hyped up the firm's AI initiatives. Apple's shares were contrarian to big tech's major moves for most of 2024's first half as the firm remained mute on its AI products. However, after its WWDC conference, the Cupertino technology giant convinced investors that it could expand and grow its AI platform. Since WWDC started, the shares have gained 18%, lending Apple its latest market value of $3.49 trillion, according to data available on the Nasdaq exchange. Microsoft's current value is $3.46 trillion.
Wedbush believes that Apple's ecosystem can prove to be the gatekeeper of "consumer AI Revolution" since mega AI players, the likes of Google and Facebook's parent Meta, will redesign their AI software to work with Apple's platform.
One of Apple's biggest announcements at the WWDC was the move to integrate OpenAI's ChatGPT high end GPT-4o into its software ecosystem. Other AI features include allowing users to use AI for a variety of tasks, such as writing and image generation.
Wedbush's analysis suggests that Meta and Google, which offer their Llama and Bard AI products, among others, will be eager to customize them for Apple's software. Apple's multi billion dollar iPhone user base accounts for a major chunk of its multi trillion dollar valuation as Wall Street counts on a loyal user base regularly upgrading its smartphones.
In terms of numbers, Wedbush believes that Apple's Services business division can achieve revenue growth of $10 billion annually. Services cover a variety of Apple's software products, such as its licensing deals to allow software to run on its platform and applications like Apple Pay and AppleCare.
Ives' optimism stems from his belief that the next 12 months should see a boom in generative AI applications that run on Apple's platform. Microsoft has also integrated OpenAI's products into its Azure cloud computing service, which also provides users the ability to use Meta's Llama.
Apple's first fiscal quarter ends in December, and early versions of its AI products should be available to developers through iOS 18 later this year. Its earnings report for the fiscal year 2025's first quarter should allow investors to get a first taste of user uptick, with more data becoming available as the features roll out next year.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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