Google Passes Microsoft to Become World’s Third Most Valuable Company

On Monday, Google’s stock price climbed as Microsoft’s dropped, giving Google a market capitalization of $249.19 billion compared to $247.44 billion for Microsoft. That made Google the world’s third most valuable company and the second most valuable tech company, behind Apple.

Marketwatch reported, “Google’s surge in market value comes as the company’s stock price notched its biggest quarterly rally in nearly seven years, jumping 30% during the third quarter. Worries regarding Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola earlier this year have faded.”

“It was one more sign that the technology industry had entered what some call a post-PC era,” wrote Nick Wingfield in The New York Times. “Investors are becoming more bullish on the growth opportunities ahead for Google, a company whose fortunes are predicated on the Internet and, increasingly, on mobile devices and services.”

Computerworld’s Preston Gralla observed, “In the year ending June 30, Microsoft had $18.06 billion in revenue to Google’s $12.21 billion, nearly 50% more.” He continued, “Why the apparent disconnect? It’s because Wall Street favors, above almost all else, potential growth. When it looks at Google it sees growth. When it looks at Microsoft, it sees stagnation.”

In Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Brian Womack noted, “Only Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s most valuable company at $618.1 billion, tops Google among technology businesses. Apple passed Microsoft in 2010 on rising sales of iPhones and iPads — devices that helped usher in a new era of computing that’s less reliant on PCs.”

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