MS didn't drop below Apple, Apple grew above MS. It's a pretty important distinction - drop means they declined, Apple is now making more money than Microsoft, and Microsoft is making more money than they used to too.
When describing standing in sports you don't say "X won less than Y so Y is ahead", you say "X dropped below Y in the standings". Most financial reporting is based on sports speech.
Standings are a relative measure. Profits are not. You can say MS dropped below Apple in the rankings of profits. Likewise, one would NOT say in sports that X dropped below Y in wins. You'd say that Y passed X in wins.
