One of these big tech conglomerates Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft may in this year become the first trillion-dollar public company in the US.

Both market analysts and company executives are busy speculating the market capitalisation values of the biggest tech companies in the US. Considering the various expansion campaigns as well as their roots in the lucrative and high-returns technologies, many analysts are claiming that despite the huge differences in their current market caps, all four contenders are carrying similar possibilities of reaching the finishing line first.

Apple

Considering the present market cap value, Apple Inc. (839.24 billion at the time of this post) indeed is leading the race. This however, should be taken with a pinch of salt as Apple was already leading in the year 2017 with its record high value going over $900 billion, and its growth since then has been fluctuating and slow at its best.

In comparison with other strong contenders, like Amazon that has been growing at exponential rates, growth for Apple not as encouraging. Especially considering the recent downfall in the sales of its latest device the iPhone X, meaning analysts are now rather apprehensive about its position in the final scenes.

The most favorable predictions for Apple come from its big stock buybacks, including the one that will be accompanied by the repatriation of its $250 billion cash assets, which at present is supposedly being held outside of the US.

Resources: https://silktide.com/5-lessons-learned-from-apples-conquest-of-the-world/

Amazon

With a dizzying growth in the market cap chart since the earliest days of 2017, the second-most promising contender in the race is the retail giant Amazon.

Since 2015, Amazon has witnessed some of the most drastic growth patterns ever seen in industrial history. It was this growth spurt that contributed to the company’s total value, getting the attention of banking giant Barclays who put their bets on Amazon. In a report on the topic released in March 2017, Fortune publishers recorded a statement from Barclay’s analyst Ross Sandler, that Amazon (which at the time was valued not even the half of the expected value) is going to be one of the first companies to reach the trillion dollar mark. In his words, “It’s just a question of when, not if, in our view.”

The predictions, though slightly condescending, were not far off the mark. At present Amazon is in second position, not only in the terms of future possibilities but also in that of actual market capitalisation value, which at the time of this post was at $762.67 billion.

Currently, the maximum growth prospects for the company comes from its cloud computing solutions- AWS, as well as, its steady growth in the retail business with innovations like Amazon Go.

Resources: https://thenextweb.com/insights/2017/06/06/amazon-fights-poverty-prime-discount-food-stamps/

Microsoft

Standing firm at the varying ranges of $700 billion, MSFT (Microsoft) is one of the oldest contenders in the race with a growth chart that seems to have hit a plateau. With a slow-growing legacy, Microsoft still rules the market of personal computers and corporate servers, however a little can be said about its growth prospects in other areas.

Another concern that is keeping its investors on the edge of their seats is the quick growth of cloud computing, and its potential of displacing the market niche for Microsoft. Although the cloud solution of the company- Azure is picking up the pace, it is yet to show any visible impact on its overall market value.

Resources: https://www.verdict.co.uk/social-media-investment-research-ranking/

Alphabet

Google’s parent company Alphabet is a tricky contender with a strong business, hefty revenues, but ambiguous expense management.

It is noteworthy, that the search engine giant has already dominated its market niche with its closest contenders like Bing and Yahoo trailing behind. However, other than its use as a search engine, Google doesn’t seem to be advancing positions in any of the other invested areas. Though its products like YouTube, Pixel, Cloud Software, and Advertising are faring well than what most analysts would have predicted, they are not showing any impressive impact on its market capitalisation, which at present is valued at $716.8 billion.

Analysts are hinting at Alphabet’s relatively lax expense controls that are keeping investors from making any big decisions, despite the continually impressive revenue growth. Nonetheless, some analysts, like Jum Cramer from CNBC are encouraging investment in the company, stating these recent downfalls as the opportune times for doing so.

Resources: https://warriortradingnews.com/alphabet-inc-googl-stock-ready-run/14865

Data Sources:
Market Cap values were collected from sources like http://www.macrotrends.net, https://ycharts.com/, and https://www.marketwatch.com.

Resources:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ranking-amazon-alphabet-apple-and-microsoft-in-the-race-to-1-trillion-in-market-value-2018-04-25

http://fortune.com/2018/04/24/microsoft-becomes-second-most-valuable-company-for-first-time-since-2015/

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/24/cramer-says-alphabets-recent-declines-are-a-buying-opportunity.html

http://fortune.com/2018/04/24/microsoft-becomes-second-most-valuable-company-for-first-time-since-2015/