AAPL vs MSFT Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Apple is usually evaluated as a premium consumer technology and ecosystem business, while Microsoft is usually evaluated as an enterprise software, cloud, and AI infrastructure compounder. The better stock depends on whether an investor prefers Apple's device and services ecosystem or Microsoft's enterprise cloud and AI platform exposure.
Use this AAPL vs MSFT comparison to separate business quality from valuation. A stronger business can still be a weaker stock if expectations are too high, while a slower grower can still be attractive when valuation and downside risk are favorable.
MSFT holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. AAPL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+37.75% vs +3.04%), though MSFT has the better forward P/E setup (21.78x vs 34.70x for AAPL). MSFT leads on both revenue growth (17.70%) and operating margin (45.11%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for MSFT (+10.89%) than for AAPL (-1.99%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Prefer consumer brand durability with proven pricing power
- Value consistent buybacks and balance-sheet-driven shareholder returns
- Want services-margin expansion as a secular long-term driver
- Seek lower enterprise-IT budget sensitivity and more defensive revenue
- Want direct enterprise cloud (Azure) and AI infrastructure exposure
- Prefer sticky B2B subscription revenue (Microsoft 365, Dynamics, GitHub)
- Believe AI monetization will compound revenue growth over time
- Are comfortable paying a higher multiple for durable enterprise platform growth
| Metric | AAPL | MSFT |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 59.4 | 60.7 |
| AI ranki | #163 | #139 |
| Latest closei | $343.46 | $529.05 |
| 1M returni | +3.32% | +7.90% |
| 3M returni | +2.91% | +34.34% |
| 6M returni | +27.10% | +25.13% |
| 1Y returni | +37.75% | +3.04% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | AAPL | MSFT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.88K (+38.8%) started 2025-10-16 | $10.34K (+3.4%) started 2025-10-16 |
| 5Y ago | $24.4K (+144.0%) started 2021-10-18 | $18.34K (+83.4%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $138.83K (+1288.3%) started 2016-10-17 | $115.65K (+1056.5%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | AAPL | MSFT |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $4.85T | $3.81T |
| Trailing P/Ei | 38.15 | 28.58 |
| Forward P/Ei | 34.70 | 21.78 |
| Price/Salesi | 11.01 | 11.87 |
| EV/Revenuei | 10.44 | 11.65 |
| Analyst targeti | $325.66 | $569.45 |
| Target upsidei | -1.99% | +10.89% |
| Metric | AAPL | MSFT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 16.40% | 17.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 28.70% | 31.70% |
| EPS growthi | +28.70% | +31.70% |
| FCF margini | +23.08% | +4.99% |
| Operating margini | 32.62% | 45.11% |
| Profit margini | 27.62% | 40.30% |
| ROIC proxyi | 148.75% | 34.04% |
| Return on equityi | 148.75% | 34.04% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.33% | 0.71% |
| Payout ratioi | 12.04% | 19.83% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.08 | 1.10 |
| Debt/equityi | 78.44 | 29.12 |
| Current ratioi | 1.00 | 1.23 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.81 | 1.10 |
Over the past year, AAPL and MSFT have moved barely in the same direction (correlation of 0.12), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | AAPL | MSFT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +38.80% | +3.41% |
| CAGRi | +38.86% | +3.41% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.38% | 32.85% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.29 | 0.13 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.87 | 0.20 | |
| Max drawdowni | 13.82% | 34.91% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.00% | 2.65% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 4.88% | 17.20% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 6.38% | 19.81% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.35% | 9.99% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.94% | 14.43% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +139.13% | +77.63% |
| CAGRi | +19.07% | +12.19% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.01% | 28.19% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.60 | 0.39 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.89 | 0.58 | |
| Max drawdowni | 33.36% | 37.15% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.00% | 2.65% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.05% | 12.22% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 11.71% | 15.69% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.25% | 9.99% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.75% | 14.43% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1171.51% | +931.05% |
| CAGRi | +28.96% | +26.29% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.13% | 27.79% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.87 | 0.82 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.27 | 1.22 | |
| Max drawdowni | 38.52% | 37.15% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.00% | 2.65% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 8.11% | 7.66% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 11.19% | 11.63% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.86% | 14.74% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.75% | 16.36% |
| Category | AAPL | MSFT |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Apple Inc. | Microsoft Corporation |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Consumer Electronics | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | Consumer hardware, services, wearables, software ecosystem, and payments. | Cloud infrastructure, productivity software, enterprise platforms, gaming, and AI services. |
| Investor focus | Ecosystem durability, services growth, margins, buybacks, and iPhone cycle resilience. | Azure growth, Microsoft 365 durability, AI monetization, margins, and enterprise demand. |
- Deep consumer ecosystem with high customer retention
- Large services segment that can support recurring revenue
- Strong balance sheet and shareholder return history
- Broad enterprise software distribution
- Azure cloud growth and AI infrastructure exposure
- Recurring revenue from Microsoft 365 and commercial contracts
- iPhone upgrade cycles and hardware concentration
- App Store and platform regulation
- Margin pressure from supply chain or product mix shifts
- Cloud growth deceleration risk
- AI infrastructure spending and margin impact
- Enterprise IT budget sensitivity
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