Key Points
For now, Apple is the world's second most-valuable company by market cap, but the iPhone maker may not stay in this position for long.
Amazon is just getting started capitalizing on the generative artificial intelligence (AI) growth catalyst. Further growth related to this trend could push it above Apple in terms of market cap.
A similar situation could occur with Meta Platforms, as the Facebook parent invests hundreds of billions into AI, deploying it into areas beyond just its social media advertising platforms.
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With a market cap of $3.7 billion, making it the second most-valuable company in the world, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) remains well-positioned to stay near the top of the heap.
Yet while the "apple" may not necessarily fall far from the tree anytime soon, here's how some other "Magnificent Seven" stocks could eventually become more valuable than the iPhone maker: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META).
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Already among the largest technology companies, both are aggressively capitalizing on the growth trend in generative artificial intelligence (AI). From this trend, each could produce economic returns high enough to justify market caps exceeding Apple's by 2035.
Image source: Getty Images.
It's still early days for Amazon's AI catalyst
Few may call Amazon an AI front-runner, but this perception could change within the next few years. Already the dominant player in the cloud computing market through its Amazon Web Services (AWS) division, the company is benefiting from increased demand in enterprise computing power.
Better yet, it's not just through AWS that Amazon is using AI technology not merely to compete, but to dominate a market. Amazon continues to build up its advertising business. Once an "also-ran" business unit, the advertising business is now generating nearly $60 billion in annual sales. AI has also proven instrumental in the further growth and profit maximization of Amazon's legacy retailing business.
Put it all together, and it's easy to see Amazon outpacing Apple over the next 10 years. With a market cap of $2.27 trillion, the company definitely has its work cut out for it in terms of outsized growth, but it's well within the realm of possibility.
Meta's growth catalyst continues to play out
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was actually one of the tech companies to profit most quickly from the advent of generative AI. Quickly switching gears from the metaverse to AI starting in late 2022, by 2023, the company experienced a growth resurgence, as the integration of this cutting-edge technology led to greater monetization of its social media platforms through advertising. That year, revenue increased 16% and EPS rose 73%.
With a current market cap of just $1.4 trillion, Meta has to make an even greater leap than Amazon in order to eclipse Apple's market cap. Even so, give Meta a decade, and this may just well be achievable. Already starting to monetize AI in areas beyond online advertising, such as with AI-enhanced wearables, if Meta can continue to develop AI-related revenue streams steadier than that of the cyclical advertising market, not only could shares rise on rising profitability, the company's valuation could go up as well.
Right now, Meta trades for only 20 times forward earnings, while Apple trades for nearly 30 times forward earnings. Beyond higher earnings growth alone, valuation expansion is another way Meta could become the more valuable of the two companies.
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Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, and Meta Platforms and is short shares of Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
