Apple’s 2024 slump puts world’s most-valuable stock title at risk

Apple is off to its weakest start to a year since 2019, putting its long-standing status as the world’s most valuable stock by market value in jeopardyThe Cupertino, California-based company has been the most valuable publicly-listed company since July 2022, but the stock has fallen sharply this year after the technology giant was hit by two ratings downgrades, with analysts flagging weak macro environment in China pressuring demand for iPhones. That has shrunk its lead over fellow technology juggernaut Microsoft — whose shares have seen a less pronounced decline to begin the year — to less than $100 billion.