Microsoft Closes Above $3 Trillion Market Value for the First Time

Software giant joins Apple as the only U.S. public companies to finish a trading day above the $3 trillion mark

Microsoft shares finally reached the $3 trillion milestone.

Microsoft Corp.’s stock closed Thursday with a milestone only Apple Inc. had previously achieved.

Shares of Microsoft closed at $404.87, up 0.6%, to give the tech giant a market capitalization just north of $3 trillion. On Wednesday, the stock briefly peeked above that level, but closed the day just shy.

Apple Inc. is the only other U.S. public company to close with a market capitalization above $3 trillion, first doing so at the end of June.

While Apple and Microsoft have jockeyed for the top spot in the U.S. market-cap tables in recent sessions, the iPhone maker currently reigns supreme, with a $3.01 trillion valuation as of Thursday’s close.

After going public in March 1986, it took Microsoft 8,351 trading days to achieve a $1 trillion valuation, according to Dow Jones Market Data, but the maker of Office and Windows needed only 543 sessions to make it to $2 trillion. It then took 650 days to reach $3 trillion.

“We expect that the ‘3 A’s’ (AI, Azure, and Activision) will help power positive estimate revisions over the course of [calendar 2024],” Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne wrote recently. “Clearly, the primary focus for investors in the coming quarters will be Azure growth and the monetization of Microsoft 365 Copilot, but it should be noted that a more positive PC cycle, the integration of Activision into the gaming business and continued traction in cybersecurity will also help drive growth in 2024.”

Microsoft reports fiscal second-quarter earnings Tuesday afternoon.