By Subrat Patnaik

(Reuters) – Apple Inc (NASDAQ) will lose the title of world’s most valued public company. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ) If shares of the iPhone manufacturer continue to slide at Friday’s opening.

Apple saw a 6 billion drop in sales for the fiscal fourth quarter as a result of a global supply chain problem that caused a delay. Wall Street was disappointed. Tim Cook, Apple’s top boss, said that the holiday quarter will see an even greater impact.

Sophie Lundyates, an equity analyst at Equity Analyst, said that Apple’s supply chain disruption exposure is higher than those of its less-focused FAANG peers. Hargreaves Lansdown (LON)

In premarket trading, Cupertino’s stock fell 3.5% to $147.30, which translates into a market capization of $2.417 billion if losses are not sustained. Windows software manufacturer’s shares increased 0.7% to $324.60 for a market capitalization of $2.437 billion.

Apple has purchased $421.7 billion in shares over the years and announced an enormous $90 billion buyback of its stock last April. The company’s stock portfolio continues to shrink, and it ended its fourth quarter fiscal year with 16.4 million shares.

Microsoft stock rose more than 45 percent this year thanks to the pandemic-induced demand that its cloud-based service has generated. Apple’s shares rose 15% in the first quarter of this year.

Apple’s stock price value surpassed that of Microsoft in 2010, as Microsoft was unable to match Apple’s. The iPhone has made Apple the leading consumer technology company worldwide. In recent years, the Wall Street most valuable businesses have been taken by both Apple and Microsoft. Apple holds this title until mid-2020.

Although Apple’s supply chain issues have been managed well by analysts, Cook has warned of increased pressure and the possibility that Apple will suffer as holiday season approaches.

Microsoft, however, on Tuesday predicted a strong finish to the year due to its cloud business. However, it cautioned that key units such as those making its Surface laptops or Xbox gaming consoles, will still be affected by supply chain woes.