Microsoft has passed Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in total market capitalization for the first time in three years. The Redmond-based software giant was valued at more than $753 billion after markets closed in the US on Tuesday, making it the third-largest publicly-traded company in the world after Apple and Amazon, and reflecting the company’s continuing growth under CEO Satya Nadella.
Microsoft’s market cap of $753 billion is now just a tick above Alphabet’s $739 billion thanks largely to the 40 percent surge the company’s stock has experienced over the past year as it invests heavily in cloud-based services and artificial intelligence. Ironically, though, Microsoft’s stock fell almost 0.4 percent to $98.01 on Tuesday, while Alphabet’s Class A shares dropped 1.5 percent to $1,068.07.
Microsoft’s revenue during the last quarter of 2017 rose 12 percent to $28.92 billion, with Azure revenue jumping 98 percent on a year-on-year basis. In the last quarter, the company posted revenues of $26.8 billion, buoyed once again, by the astronomical growth in its cloud-computing business, which is already larger than that of Google’s, but continues to trail Amazon Web Services
Meanwhile, Google first passed Microsoft in market cap six years ago when it still traded under the older ‘GOOG’ symbol after going public in 2004. The companies traded positions several times in the following years, but after Alphabet was created back in 2015, this is the first time that Microsoft has been able to surpass Google’s holding company in total market value.
Overall, Apple leads is the largest publicly-traded company in the world with a market cap of around $924 billion, with Amazon coming in at a distant second with almost $783 billion.
