Microsoft Becomes Third Most Valuable Company, Passing Google

According to CNBC, Microsoft is more valuable in the market than Google (Alphabet Inc, more specifically) for the first time in three years. The company’s value is now at 753$ billion, while Alphabet finds itself at 739$ billion. Microsoft is now behind only Apple (923$ billion) and Amazon (782$ billion).

During the past months, Microsoft has increased its value over forty percent. Although it is unclear for how long Microsoft will be able to hold the third spot—and its value is not even near the other top two companies—Microsoft has been able to stay on course since Bill Gates retired from the company in 2014.

The entrance of Satya Nadella has marked a phase of progress for the company; the company’s stock has doubled since his entrance four years ago. He helped the company redefine their priorities and focus, bringing attention to developing cross-platform technologies, artificial intelligence, and numerous other projects.

What sets Microsoft apart form his competitors is the way in which they obtain their revenue. Google obtains 90% of its revenue from advertising, and Apple obtains around 60% from the iPhone. In the case of Microsoft, Windows, surface and gaming-related products only make up 35%, with the cloud taking 30%, and Office and productivity taking over 30%. Analysts have shown themselves optimistic for the future, stating that their cloud revenue could double in the near future.

Microsoft’s bet for the cloud business has definitely payed off, since it has shown itself to be increasingly profitable and bigger than Apple’s. Even recently, the company reorganized its Windows and Devices groups and re-targeted the engineering resources used for them towards other projects, most of them related to A.I. and cloud technology.

The company comes fresh off its Build 2018 conference, where they announced several Windows-related projects and updates for the 10 version of the software. They also announced the partnership between their Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa, as well as major investment in projects related to helping disabled people through A.I.

These projects also echo the company’s recent interest in driving away from merely producing Windows products; instead, they are investing their budget and attention towards developing new and innovative technology. But most importantly, they also had the objective of reminding and highlighting this shift of focus to the market and their customers, so that people stop directly associating Microsoft with Windows and computers or desktops.

In regards to branching out, Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith has stated the company’s concern in the face of immigration-related problems. The company has always advocated for the protection of DACA, and immigration in general. Smith stated his disbelief that the program will be kept intact, saying in a conference: “There is room, I believe, for common ground if people want to find it. In an era of such disagreement, I just don’t know that people are looking for that common ground.” He communicated his belief that change surrounding the DACA program could impact “virtually every company” in the U.S., since deporting people with H-1B and H-4 visas would cause for a reduction of numbers in employees.

Featured Image via: Flickr/Red Maxwell