3 huge companies compete for the prestigious title: who will be the biggest in the world?

For almost two years, Apple held the title of the largest traded company in the world. It also made history in 2023, when it was the first company in the world to reach a value of more than 3 trillion dollars, an amount that until recently sounded almost imaginary. But a year later two more companies joined the prestigious club: Microsoft and Nvidia. Since then, there has been a close battle between the three for the top of Wall Street. Globes analyzes the path of the three largest companies in the world to the top, which of them will end the year as the largest of them all, when will we first see a company worth 4 trillion dollars, and also: what does companies of this size mean for the global economy?

dark: It’s hard to keep the first place

It was not an easy year fordark . Already in January, Microsoft took away the title of the largest company in the world, and for months the iPhone maker struggled with a glass ceiling worth 3 trillion dollars. Every time he reached it the stock went down. The troubles piled up, sales in China fell, it seemed to be lagging behind in the artificial intelligence race, the regulator blew its tail and analysts began to lower their forecasts for the stock. The fact that Warren Buffett, the world’s largest private investor, mostly sold Apple shares this year didn’t help her either. Thus, in fact until May the company’s stock faltered and even fell by more than 8%.

But then the picture seemed to be reversed. Within two months, Apple’s stock jumped by nearly 40%, breaking a new record and returning to the top with a value of $3.55 trillion – the highest ever recorded. The company’s plans to integrate advanced AI capabilities into the operating system of its iPhones, including the development of personalized services, are news that the entire market has been waiting for. Although since the beginning of the year the stock has registered an increase of “only” 25%, not very far from the 23% that the S&P 500 index did in the same period, but as of Tuesday afternoon it is still the company with the highest value in the world.

Investors, who at the beginning of the year feared that Apple, under the management of Tim Cook, was missing out on the AI ​​revolution, realized the power of combining the company’s huge user base – over 2 billion active iOS devices – with advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. With approximately 300 million iPhone users who are in the window of opportunity to upgrade, and service businesses that are growing at record speed to a value of 2 trillion dollars, Apple may lead the next revolution: the implementation of AI as an integral part of the daily lives of billions of people through a new generation of phones. The Wedbush investment house, led by Dan Ives, sets the most ambitious forecasts: a target price of $300 for Apple shares (an increase of almost 30%), which reflects the belief in the company’s potential to be the first to reach the prestigious mark – the $4 trillion mark.

Nvidia: Walking to the top with giant steps

The biggest threat to Apple right now, at least in terms of market capitalization, is her Nvidia . What Apple took many decades to achieve, Nvidia took within two and a half years. Jumped from trillion to trillion to a value of $3.45 trillion as of Tuesday afternoon. Only 3% away from the desired title, not a particularly dramatic increase on the scale of the chip giant and the company that has already jumped 184% since the beginning of the year. In fact, Nvidia already claimed the title of the world’s largest company earlier this month.

With 80% control of the semiconductor market, which put it in a position of power against the biggest, strongest and richest companies in the world, Nvidia’s rise broke all the rules on Wall Street. Thanks to this, Jensen Huang, the legendary CEO and founder of the company, recently became the tenth richest man in the world, with an estimated worth of almost 125 billion dollars according to Forbes.

The Oppenheimer investment house estimates that the close battle between Apple and Nvidia will continue in the near future. In the forecast for the next 12 months, they provided an average target price for Nvidia of $154 per share (compared to $140), which would reflect a value of $3.77 trillion. And for Apple 247 dollars per share (compared to 233), which reflects a market value of 3.75 trillion. “According to the average target prices, Nvidia is expected to have a higher price than the other two stocks, but they are all close,” Sergey Vaschunok tells Globes. He adds that the shift also depends on the results of the companies’ reports (Apple will publish on Thursday and Nvidia at the end of November) and especially on growth. Nvidia has shown unprecedented growth in the world capital market, in revenues, profits and especially in the stock, if it continues at this rate, its potential is higher than the other two.

Microsoft: Started the competition and moves away from the target

Exactly Microsoft the company that has been threatening Apple’s place at the top for years, and was also the first this year to take the title from it, is trailing behind with a value of 3.17 trillion dollars.

Microsoft’s rise to the top was made possible, among other things, thanks to two key factors – the early investment in the field of artificial intelligence through the company OpenAI, and Microsoft’s dominance in the enterprise software market and cloud services. But in recent months Microsoft has been faltering and since July it has fallen by about 8%.

However, Oppenheimer expects a sharp jump in the stock with a target price of $503 (compared to $426) which reflects a value of $3.74 trillion in a year. And they are not alone. Various analysts predict a double-digit increase in the stock. The Bernstein investment house also joins the future optimism with a target price of $500 for Microsoft shares. In a report published last October, the analysts emphasize the enormous potential of AI integration in all the company’s products, from Office to Azure. The investment company Rosenblatt Securities leads the predictions for Nvidia with a target price of $200 per share, this against the background of continued strong demand for artificial intelligence chips. At the same time, Woodbush anticipates a target of $550 for Microsoft shares, the highest estimate in the market, based on the company’s continued strong growth in the field of corporate artificial intelligence.

Behind the big numbers lies a story of three different strategies. The three companies represent three critical aspects of the next technological revolution – Apple in the user experience, Microsoft in the enterprise application and Nvidia in the technological infrastructure. But it is not certain that the big records are good news. Shahar Cohen, CEO and founder of Lucid Capital says: “The market value of 3.5-4 trillion dollars allows these companies to go beyond the traditional economic laws taught in business schools. They can make huge investments of 40-50 billion dollars each, and even if the investment fails, it will reduce a total of about a percentage of their market value. These investments are equivalent to an entire stimulus program for the American economy. This infinite power allows them to stifle innovation from medium and small players, or buy out any potential competitor. No other body in the world, including giants like Walmart and Bank of America can make an investment of 45-50 billion dollars without jeopardizing its existence or its stock price. These companies simply live by their own economic laws.”