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Google becomes No. 2 most valuable company in tech

After a summer stock surge, the Internet potentate surpasses rival Microsoft to become the second-most valuable in tech by market cap.

Casey Newton Former Senior Writer
Casey Newton writes about Google for CNET, which he joined in 2012 after covering technology for the San Francisco Chronicle. He is really quite tall.
Casey Newton

In May 2010, Apple attained a ranking long thought unthinkable -- the world's most valuable technology company, a position it achieved by dethroning longtime rival Microsoft.

Apple still sits atop the throne. But in the meantime another company has come along to kick Microsoft down a peg: Google, which capped off a summer surge in its stock price by overtaking Microsoft today in market capitalization. In the technology sector, only Apple has a bigger market value.

Google closed the day at $761.98, up 0.99 percent. Microsoft closed at $29.51, down 0.82 percent. And just like that, Google's market capitalization of $248.89 billion overtook Microsoft's value of 247.27 billion.

The day capped off a strong run for Google's stock, which surged more than 30 percent this summer amid improved earnings and a bullish Citi report that set a new price target for the company at $850, up from $740.