Tech companies have long been some of the most popular on Wall Street, and many firms have changed the way millions of people live. Yet, even with the rise of Amazon AMZN, Facebook FB, and younger tech startups, Apple AAPL and Microsoft MSFT still have an outsized influence on consumers and the stock market. So let’s compare the two historic tech companies in terms of both revenue growth and stock price movement.
Revenue Growth
Microsoft went public at $21 per share on March 13, 1986, after Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the company in 1975.
IBM IBM introduced its first personal computer in 1981, which used Microsoft’s 16-bit operating system MS-DOS. The company then shipped its Windows 1.0 operating system in 1985 after two years of development. Microsoft reported revenues of $591 million in 1988 and then launched the earliest version of Office in August 1989.
Microsoft introduced Windows 3.0 in May 1990 and went on to report fiscal 1992 sales of $2.76 billion. But it was the launch of Windows 95 that really sent the company on its massive run. Just two years later, in 1997, Microsoft reported revenues of $11.36 billion.
Windows 98 was also a massive success, helping lift revenues to $18.97 billion in 1999. Steve Ballmer was then appointed CEO in 2000, one year before Microsoft introduced Office XP, Windows XP, and the Xbox.
Gates transitioned away from his day-to-day role to concentrate on his charitable endeavors in 2008. The company pulled in revenues of $60.42 billion that year. Microsoft would go on to expand its business, diving into cloud computing, AI, and other new growth areas, as well as completing some splashy deals—including its acquisition of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016. The company reported total revenues of $89.95 billion in fiscal 2017.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple Computers one year after Microsoft in 1976. The company went public four years later, on December 12, 1980, for $22 per share.
