On Friday, Apple lost its crown as the world’s most valuable listed company due to the iPhone maker’s share price falling about 2%. Due to continuing global supply chain problems, Apple suffered a loss of US$6 billion (approximately Rs 44,940 crore) in its fourth-quarter sales, which failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations. The top boss Tim Cook said that the impact of the current holiday sales quarter will be more serious.

Sophie Lund-Yates, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Compared with FAANG peers who are less concerned about hardware, Apple is also more susceptible to supply chain disruptions.” Apple’s shares fell 1.8% to close at $149.80 (about 11,200). rupee). ), bringing the company’s market value to 2.48 trillion U.S. dollars (approximately 185,752.20 billion rupees). In contrast, Windows software maker Microsoft’s stock price rose 2.2% to a record high of US$331.62 (approximately 24,800 rupees), with a market value of US$2.49 trillion (approximately Rs 1,8649,489 crore) at the close.

Over the years, Apple has repurchased shares worth 421.7 billion U.S. dollars (approximately Rs 31,531.86 billion) and announced a large-scale share repurchase of USD 90 billion (approximately Rs 6,740.77 billion) in April. As a result, the pool of outstanding shares continued to shrink, and the company held 16.4 billion shares at the end of the fourth fiscal quarter. Microsoft’s stock price has soared 49% this year, and demand for its cloud-based services caused by the pandemic has boosted sales.

So far this year, Apple’s stock price has risen by 13%. Apple’s stock market value surpassed Microsoft in 2010 because the iPhone made it the world’s premier consumer technology company. In recent years, these companies have taken turns to become the most valuable companies on Wall Street, and Apple has maintained this title since mid-2020.

Analysts said that Apple has managed supply chain issues well, but as Cook warned that it will face greater pressure, its performance may be impacted as the holidays approach.

In contrast, Microsoft on Tuesday predicted a strong end to the calendar year. But it also warned that supply chain issues will continue to plague key departments, such as those that produce Surface laptops and Xbox game consoles.

News Source : Gadgets 360