Apple did not bypass Microsoft by capitalization

A sensational message was spread by MarketWatch agency last night: Apple bypassed Microsoft by capitalization (realizing the mistake, they had already corrected the text by adding S & P instead of “capitalization” in the headline). At about 1:30 Moscow time, stock quotes on the NYSE were established in such a way that Apple's market capitalization briefly exceeded Microsoft's market capitalization! That is, Apple for a few minutes allegedly became the world's largest IT-company and generally the second largest corporation in the world, second only to Exxon Mobil.

In fact, the situation is different.

First, MarketWatch in its information does not result in the full capitalization, but in the market capitalization, that is, the sum of all the shares that circulate on the open market (float-adjusted). This evaluation method is used for the S & P index and is relevant only for financiers, but not for comparing the actual size of companies.

Secondly, shortly thereafter, Microsoft published financial results for the last quarter with impressive figures, after which the quotes of its shares rose markedly.
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If we take into account the current capitalization, then at this moment (04/23/2010, 16:27 MSK) it is at Microsoft 275.3 billion (the stock price is $ 31.39), and Apple has $ 242.39 billion (the course is $ 266.47), the difference is about $ 33 billion, that is, the leader is still far away.