The AI boom is driving up the value of the world’s 100 most valuable publicly traded companies. In the first six months of the year, the yield rose 17 percent to $42.3 trillion – a record high.
This is evident from an evaluation by the audit and consulting firm EY, which is available to the German press agency. The deadline for the study was June 28. At the top of the ranking is Microsoft with a value of 3.32 trillion dollars. The software company is thus 77 percent more valuable than all DAX companies combined. At the end of June, the 40 largest stock companies in Germany had a total market capitalization of $1.87 trillion.
Apple is in second place in the ranking, followed by chip company Nvidia. The latter increased its market value by almost 150 percent in the first half of the year, from $1.22 trillion to $3.04 trillion at the end of 2023. Other semiconductor makers such as TSMC (10th place) and Broadcom (11th place) also posted strong gains. A total of 26 technology companies were in the top 100 at the end of June.
“Huge added value”
“The topic of artificial intelligence is a megatrend that is reorganizing the economic world at a breathtaking pace, inspiring the imagination of investors and stock prices,” says EY Chairman of the Board of Directors Henrik Ahlers. AI technologies are expected to lead to drastic changes in all sectors and also in private life in the future. “This creates enormous added value.”
Europe is only in the “second tier” when it comes to AI
However, American companies in particular have benefited from the enthusiasm of many investors for AI. Only a few European companies currently play a significant role. These include the Dutch chip supplier ASML, the software company SAP from Germany and the British chip designer Arm. They have all been able to conquer a number of important places and have a combined market value of 812 billion dollars. But they are confronted with 18 technology giants from North America that are worth 16.5 trillion dollars.
Ahlers: “Europe is currently largely in the second tier when it comes to AI and still has a lot of catching up to do.” Developments are happening so fast that there is a risk of falling behind. Although there are a number of promising AI startups in Europe, they are not listed on the stock exchange and are far behind the American top performers in terms of turnover.
Constant loss of meaning
The AI boom could further cement the dominance of U.S. companies in global stock markets. As of the end of June, 60 of the 100 most valuable companies were from the United States. 19 were from Europe. By comparison, in 2007, 46 were from Europe and 32 from the U.S.
“Over the past 20 years, we have seen the importance of Europe steadily decline,” Ahlers says. The majority of Europe’s top companies are not active in the technology industry and therefore hardly benefit from the AI boom. There is therefore little evidence that Europe will be able to reverse this trend in the coming years.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
