Apple Briefly Ceded to Microsoft by MarketCap on January Eleventh!

Although Apple (AAPL) was one of the first stocks to return to all-time highs last year, it has lagged the broader market in recent weeks. This deviation is rare and therefore worth noting. To be sure, Apple stock has had its fair share of down days, but those declines generally parallel the rest of the market.

However, as Apple shares fell in the week leading up to Christmas, the benchmark S&P 500 index inched higher toward a record close. At the start of the week, the gap was stark. While the S&P 500 has remained nearly flat since Dec. 18, Apple shares are down nearly 10%.

Yesterday, on January 11, Microsoft's (MSFT) market value briefly surpassed Apple's (AAPL), becoming the world's most valuable public company. The software giant took the top spot shortly after trading began, with a market capitalization of more than $2.8 trillion. Apple also has a market capitalization of more than $2.8 trillion, but trailed only Microsoft.

The two companies soon swapped places again, with Apple back on top, and continued to swap places throughout the morning. Apple shares struggled in the first two weeks of the year as analysts at three banks downgraded the company's shares over concerns about slowing demand for iPhones.

Thus, Barclays sees little room for Apple shares to rise in the next few years, so it has downgraded Apple stock to “underweight” from “equal weight” and lowered its target price to $160 from $161. Piper Sandler's Harsh Kumar also downgraded the stock to neutral.