By Eric J. Savitz
The rally in $Microsoft Corp(MSFT.US)$ shares has pushed the software giant's market value to the cusp of $2 trillion. It is the second U.S.-listed company to reach that milestone. $Apple Inc(AAPL.US)$ first crossed the $2 trillion mark last August, and has a current valuation of $2.22 trillion.
Microsoft has rallied about 20% this year, adding to a 43% gain in 2020. The stock has appreciated 720% since Satya Nadella was named chief executive officer in February 2014, succeeding Steve Ballmer.
Nadella has steered the company to a cloud-first software strategy, expanding both its Azure public cloud business and cloud-based versions of Office and other applications software. In the March quarter, the company posted revenue of $41.7 billion, up 19% from a year ago, and ahead of the Wall Street consensus of $41 billion. Adjusted, non-GAAP, profits were $1.95 a share, topping Wall Street's estimate of $1.78 a share.
Microsoft is approaching the $2 trillion milestone just two days ahead of its planned launch of Windows 11, a new version of the company's flagship operating system software.
Microsoft has nearly doubled since its Covid-era low on March 16, 2020, when it carried a market value of $1.03 trillion. The stock has since added about $960 billion in market value, which is a little more than $Facebook Inc(FB.US)$'s current value of roughly $950 billion.
Both technology giants benefited strongly during the pandemic, with Microsoft seeing growing demand for its cloud-computing service, workplace-productivity solutions, and personal computers.
Shares of Microsoft traded as high as $265.79 Tuesday, above the $265.55 price needed to give it a $2 trillion valuation, but shares ultimately finished the day pennies shy at $265.51 for a valuation of $1.9997 trillion based on a share count of 7.531 billion.
During the internet bubble era two decades ago, Microsoft hit a peak valuation of $615 billion -- in December 1999.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at eric.savitz@barrons.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 22, 2021 14:04 ET (18:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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