No company is worth more on the stock market than the iGroup Apple. In the fall, the tech giant plans to bring new AI functions to its devices and hopes to gain even more momentum as a result. In the long term, however, two other AI titles have a good chance of dethroning Apple as the most valuable company in the world.
• Apple most valuable company in the world
• AI trend could bring about change at the top
• NVIDIA and Microsoft have great long-term potential
Apple is currently the most valuable company in the world in terms of market capitalization. Specifically, the iGroup is worth 3.19 trillion US dollars on the stock market. The figures for the third fiscal quarter of 2024, which were only published last week, were also well received.
Even though tech giant Apple earned slightly less from iPhone sales in the last quarter, this was offset by iPads. New models provided a boost here, namely a new edition of the iPad Air and a more powerful iPad Pro. Group sales rose by five percent to 85.5 billion US dollars compared to the previous year. Profits, meanwhile, amounted to around 21.5 billion US dollars, which corresponds to an increase of around eight percent year-on-year.
Apple jumps on the AI train
The company has also positioned itself for the future under the leadership of Tim Cook. Apple is jumping on the current hype surrounding artificial intelligence and plans to equip its devices with new AI functions in the fall, although these will involve high hardware requirements. Cook hopes that this will encourage more people to buy newer iPhones, as he revealed at the analyst conference after the quarterly presentation.
Tech expert Harsh Chauhan of The Motley Fool believes that two other AI companies will overtake Apple in the long term, as he writes in an article. They are the tech giants NVIDIA and Microsoft, each of which has already, albeit only for a short time, replaced Apple as the most valuable company in the world.
NVIDIA undefeated market leader in AI chips
When it comes to the trending topic of artificial intelligence, there is no getting around NVIDIA. The chip architect has secured a leading market position with its data center-specific technology that is suitable for the application of generative AI. The technological lead is so great that other chip designers will have a hard time catching up with NVIDIA in a timely manner. This is also the reason for Chauhan’s optimism, as companies around the world are trying to get their hands on NVIDIA products in order to be able to train and use their AI models.
Not surprisingly, the AI wave is contributing to the chip specialist’s extraordinary growth, which is also reflected in better financial performance compared to stock market star Apple. According to The Motley Fool expert, experts are assuming that the AI hype will continue in the long term. It is estimated that the global AI market will swell to 300 billion US dollars in the next ten years. Given NVIDIA’s market leadership, it is therefore very likely that the rapid growth will continue. Analysts assume that NVIDIA’s revenue from the data center business alone will grow from 47.5 billion in the previous fiscal quarter to 280 billion US dollars in the next four years.
NVIDIA’s current market capitalization is $2.43 trillion.
Microsoft invests billions in AI
Tech giant Microsoft has also become one of the main beneficiaries of the hype since the AI trend emerged with the launch of the text robot ChatGPT. This is also clear when looking at the hardware and software manufacturer’s latest quarterly figures. Microsoft was able to record a jump in sales from 56.18 billion US dollars in the last quarter to 64.7 billion US dollars. Meanwhile, profits rose from 20.08 billion US dollars a year ago to 22.04 billion US dollars.
Nevertheless, the tech giant left investors disappointed with the slow growth of its cloud business. They had hoped for more after Microsoft’s billion-dollar AI investments. Cloud revenues rose by 29 percent. However, after rising by 31 percent in the previous quarter, market participants had previously expected growth of a good 30 percent.
Microsoft has long had a strategic partnership with ChatGPT inventor OpenAI. The software manufacturer has now invested 13 billion US dollars in the AI company. Microsoft acts as OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider, while Microsoft also integrates OpenAI’s AI technology into all of its products, with customer access regulated via a subscription model. The Windows inventor’s billion-dollar AI investments also include the construction of new data centers.
With a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, Microsoft is already very close to Apple’s. Meanwhile, the computer manufacturer can demonstrate just as rapid growth as the iGroup, argues The Motley Fool. Chauhan sees great potential in Microsoft’s cloud business, which CFO Amy Hood, as she said during the conference call following the latest quarterly presentation, expects to pick up speed again in the next calendar year.
In addition, the software provider now has its own AI text robot, “Copilot,” which works on the basis of OpenAI technology. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted at the conference that the number of professional Copilot users had doubled within three months. The subscription model can thus be used to successfully monetize the AI market.
Editorial staff finanzen.at
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