Microsoft cemented elite status Wednesday – crossing the staggering $3 trillion market cap threshold for the first time. The tech titan is only the second U.S. company ever to achieve such financial valour after Apple. In fact, Microsoft was the most valuable company in the world for about two weeks and its been an upward ride for the software company that has now made a big push into gaming and cloud to take on rivals like AWS.
Microsoft closed at $405 per share, up 1.5% on the day. Its total value now exceeds the entire GDP of the UK, capping a meteoric 7% year-to-date rally. The stock has surged 40% over the past year as investors cheer Satya Nadella’s moves in artificial intelligence.
Buoying Microsoft’s new 13-digit valuation is breakneck growth in its Azure cloud and Office 365 segments. But insiders say much credit lies with Nadella himself.
The CEO placed a moonshot bet on AI in 2023 – earmarking billions to bake the technology into Microsoft’s stack before rivals. His engineering teams are currently infusing products with machine learning, exploring innovations like an AI “copilot” feature for Office. And Nadella further aligned Microsoft’s fate with AI pioneer OpenAI amid recent turmoil, looking to capitalize on apps like red-hot chatbot ChatGPT.
“Nadella’s AI play is getting even stronger,” effused Morgan Stanley analysts Tuesday. They boosted Microsoft’s stock target to $450 – an all-time-high indicating more upside ahead of January 30th earnings.
It’s been an epic climb back to prominence for Microsoft after trailing Apple for years. This month, Microsoft briefly eclipsed its longtime nemesis as the world’s #1 public company by market cap – completing a multi-year transformation.
Today, Microsoft is central force in the “Magnificent 7” – alongside Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Tesla. These tech titans now account for a full 7.3% weighting in the S&P 500 index – and have practically single-handedly buoyed markets to fresh records.
With Microsoft firing on all cylinders, analysts say Nadella has only begun tapping his company’s potential. As AI aspirations turn Wall Street’s head, Microsoft appears positioned to set more milestones in 2024 – $4 trillion next?
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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