Microsoft briefly crosses $3 trillion in market cap

Microsoft’s market cap briefly surpassed $3 trillion in intraday trading Wednesday after the stock climbed more than 1% and hit around $404 per share.

The milestone comes nearly two weeks after Microsoft eclipsed Apple as the world’s most valuable public company on Jan. 12. Apple has reclaimed the No. 1 spot, and its market cap reached around $3.02 trillion on Wednesday.

Shares of Microsoft are up more than 7% year to date as investors remain bullish about the company’s investments in artificial intelligence.

Analysts at Citi said they expect Microsoft to deliver a “solid beat” for its upcoming fiscal second-quarter earnings report, partially because of its leadership position around generative AI. The analysts raised their estimates and target price and reiterated their buy rating on the stock in a note Wednesday.

Similarly, analysts at Morgan Stanley said they believe Microsoft’s positioning and contributions related to generative AI are “getting even stronger,” according to a note Tuesday. They moved their price target to $450 from $415, and said they “remain confident in upside to our above consensus estimates.”

Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter earnings on Jan. 30.

— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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