Microsoft reached a valuation on Thursday 24th June 2021 of $2 trillion, becoming only the second U.S. company to do so, Apple being the first
Achievement
Microsoft became only the second U.S. company to close a trading day with a valuation above $2 trillion, joining Apple in an exclusive club.
Shares of Microsoft closed up 0.5% in Thursday trading, finishing the day at $266.69 to give the technology giant a valuation of slightly over $2 trillion.
Apple, which notched a $2 trillion valuation for the first time in August 2020, is now worth more than $2.2 trillion.
Tech benefits
Like many same sector peers, Microsoft has benefited during the pandemic amid a digital boom that pushed demand for the company’s Azure cloud platform as well as tools like Microsoft Office and Microsoft Teams.
The company’s personal computer business has also seen strong results given a ever expanding need for devices that can support remote work and schooling.
The company announced Thursday an updated version of its Windows operating system, Windows 11. It will feature an app store in collaboration with Amazon and others. This is a substantial move in favour of third party apps for mainstream use.
Microsoft market value
Microsoft’s market value hit a 2020 low of $1.03 trillion (still pretty good) – in the early days of the pandemic crisis, but the shares are up more than 96% from their low point of $135.42 on 16th March 2020 – a meteoric climb by any standard.
Microsoft all but doubles value in 15 months
The gains for Microsoft since its March 2020 low are worth more than Facebook’s entire market capitalisation, also per Dow Jones Market Data, as Facebook’s valuation recently stood at about $973 billion. Analysts remain confident about Microsoft’s prospects,
Shares are up a little over 13% in the past three months – the Dow has risen by about 5.5%.