Microsoft topples Apple as most valuable company

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Move over Apple....

There's a new corporate king for Wall Street.

Microsoft took over the crown and the title Friday as the world's most valuable company on the stock market.

Apple lost the top spot after a slide in the stock sparked by disappointing quarterly sales figures and a warning that sales in the all-important holiday quarter could be further rattled by the worldwide chip shortage.

Some analysts point out that compared to some other popular tech names, Apple is a lot more exposed to supply disruptions.

Apple shares are up roughly 11 percent year to date.

But that pales in comparison to Microsoft's 47-percent gain so far this year.

Microsoft is riding high on its booming cloud business Azure - boosted by solid demand during the health crisis.

The two companies have waffled back and forth in the top spot on the stock market since Apple overtook Microsoft back in 2010 thanks to the global popularity of the iPhone.

Both have stock market values greater than $2 trillion.

Apple shares were down in Friday mid-day trade, while Microsoft's stock touched a record high, putting the computer company back on the throne at least for now.

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