Microsoft is now a $2trn company

23 Jun 2021

Image: © gguy/Stock.adobe.com

The tech giant has joined Apple in having a market cap above $2trn, after it saw soaring growth over the last year.

Microsoft has entered rarefied air with a market cap of $2trn.

The company joined Apple, with the two tech giants being the only publicly traded US companies to reach a $2trn market cap. Apple hit that milestone in August of last year.

The valuation marks a coup for Microsoft after a period of extended growth. Its services, particularly cloud computing, have soared in demand over the last 15 months, buoyed by the pandemic and the requirements of remote working.

Similarly, its gaming offerings with Xbox have performed well in that time.

This is reflected in the company’s most recent quarterly earnings, where it booked $41.7bn in revenue with net income of $15.5bn. Revenue at Azure, its cloud division, was up 50pc.

Microsoft has also been cutting big cheques in an acquisition spree of late, including $19.7bn for Nuance and $7.5bn for games maker Bethesda. Most recently, it acquired internet-of-things security start-up ReFirm Labs.

All of this activity has also boosted the profile of its chief executive Satya Nadella, who was unanimously voted chair of the board last week, giving him more power to steer the direction of the company.

Microsoft’s next big play will be unveiling its new operating system, reportedly titled Windows 11, that is expected to be a major revamp of the system powering much of the world’s personal computers. The tech giant is hosting an event tomorrow (24 June) where it is set to make an announcement about Windows.

Apple is currently valued at around $2.2trn, while Amazon and Google’s market caps are $1.7trn and $1.6trn respectively. Those two are expected to join the $2trn club eventually.

Outside of the tech sphere, Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state oil company, has previously passed the $2trn valuation line.

Jonathan Keane is a freelance business and technology journalist based in Dublin

editorial@siliconrepublic.com