Apple market capitalization tops $300 billion

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited January 2014
Shares of Apple stock jumped up 2 percent on Monday, the first day of trading in the new year, launching Apple's market capitalization past the $300 billion mark for the first time in the company's history.



Three and a half years after breaking the $100 billion barrier, Apple's market capitalization has now reached a new milestone.



Investors displayed renewed confidence in Apple's 2011 plans by lifting the company's stock seven points to $329.57 at close of market on Monday. The gains added $6 billion in value to the Mac maker, bringing its market capitalization to $302.32 billion.



The Cupertino, Calif., company, however, still trails behind Exxon Mobil Corporation, the world's highest-valued public company. Exxon Mobil also saw impressive gains of nearly 2 percent, bringing its market cap to $375.92 billion.



Apple grabbed the second place spot by overtaking PetroChina Co. in September. The company also made headlines in May when it passed its long-time rival Microsoft in terms of market capitalization. Shares of Apple passed the $300 mark in October.



The milestone comes as further evidence of what has been called the "the greatest comeback story of all time." In December, MarketWatch named Apple's Steve Jobs "CEO of the Decade" for bringing the company back from the brink of bankruptcy and building it into the largest technology company in the world.



Despite its already record high, shares of Apple stock are expected to continue to increase in value, with some analysts predicting a $500 "bull case" share price.



On Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reiterated his 12-month price target of $438 for Apple, while telling investors that Apple will probably just improve on its existing product lines in 2011, rather than releasing a new product.



For a detailed look inside Apple's fundamentals and where the company's share price may be heading, please see AppleInsider's two-part series Apple $400:

Apple $400: A look at Apple?s fundamentals, Part I

Apple $400: A look at Apple's fundamentals, Part II

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    mj webmj web Posts: 918member
    In Feb '09... I'm looking for $400 in 2011.

    Long Live Steve!
  • Reply 2 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MJ Web View Post


    In Feb '09... I'm looking for $400 in 2011.

    Long Live Steve!



    You're looking for it and you probably will see it barring any unforseen happening.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    recrec Posts: 217member
    Steve passing away is probably about the only thing that could go wrong.
  • Reply 4 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by REC View Post


    Steve passing away is probably about the only thing that could go wrong.



    I hate to say it but, buying opportunity.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    mj webmj web Posts: 918member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by REC View Post


    Steve passing away is probably about the only thing that could go wrong.



    I said "Long live Steve"... Friends, Romans, and countrymen, I didn't come her to bury him!
  • Reply 6 of 20
    Apple flies by Exxon market cap in 6 months. You heard it here first.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    On Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reiterated his 12-month price target of $438 for Apple, while telling investors that Apple will probably just improve on its existing product lines in 2011, rather than releasing a new product.



    I agree with Gene. I don't think we will see any new product lines, just the continued evolution of their existing products.



    I could see Apple going back to 3 sizes of iMac.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Damn... $350 by middle of the year for sure
  • Reply 9 of 20
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BUSHMAN4 View Post


    You're looking for it and you probably will see it barring any unforseen happening.



    I'm willing to bet that we will indeed see 400.00 ..... but, imho we will see sub 300.00 first .... likely between Feb to July period. I hope I'm wrong but I see a major market correction downward in the next 6 months. ..... the word for the day is caution. Good luck to all.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member
    If Apple can do with the television market what they have done with the computer, personal music player, telephone, and tablet markets, then Apple will be the first company ever to have a market cap exceeding one trillion dollars. Of course, there is no guarantee that Apple will succeed in revolutionizing the television market.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mcarling View Post


    If Apple can do with the television market what they have done with the computer, personal music player, telephone, and tablet markets, then Apple will be the first company ever to have a market cap exceeding one trillion dollars. Of course, there is no guarantee that Apple will succeed in revolutionizing the television market.



    There's still no coherent go-to-market strategy that applies globally for the television set-top box market. As for a television with built-in set-top box, still a dicey arena for Apple to get involved in. As for Apple televisions without set-top box functionality, they would at most be a panel rebrander.



    Now, AppleTV could get Dualcore ARM 2ghz and ATI 7Series, OpenGL 2/3 etc. Then Apple would take over the console market. (Don't tell me there's not enough storage space. The latest Xbox360 has only 4GB in one of its models). This is a few years away though. But it is possible that AppleTV could become a gaming console. Just my personal take on it. It's ripe for the picking for 2012-2015.



    If Gran Turismo 5 and its low-quality graphics alongside all the other low-quality PS3 offerings can still make the PS3 popular, Apple would easily be able to do a leading gaming console.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by newbee View Post


    I'm willing to bet that we will indeed see 400.00 ..... but, imho we will see sub 300.00 first .... likely between Feb to July period. I hope I'm wrong but I see a major market correction downward in the next 6 months. ..... the word for the day is caution. Good luck to all.



    Well, the financial system is still broken so everyone will continue to push up stocks regardless and everyone will be hoping for QE3 ie. the Fed continues to just print money ad nauseam. And in 5 years China + the EU will probably have to bailout the US... I do hope I'm proven wrong.
  • Reply 13 of 20
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Well, the financial system is still broken so everyone will continue to push up stocks regardless and everyone will be hoping for QE3 ie. the Fed continues to just print money ad nauseam. And in 5 years China + the EU will probably have to bailout the US... I do hope I'm proven wrong.



    china will have to respect the laws of gravity

    just like the rest oif us

    600 million middle class chinese all buying tv sets and cars and stuff scares the hell out of me .



    look for apple stock to split soon.





    happy new year



    9
  • Reply 14 of 20
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,256member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mcarling View Post


    If Apple can do with the television market what they have done with the computer, personal music player, telephone, and tablet markets, then Apple will be the first company ever to have a market cap exceeding one trillion dollars. Of course, there is no guarantee that Apple will succeed in revolutionizing the television market.



    I thought that a couple of companies might have briefly touched one trillion back during the dotcom bubble, but maybe I'm remembering that wrong.



    Regardless, though, Apple would be the first to reach one trillion based on actual earnings as opposed to the result of a super bubble.



    I don't think TV is necessary to make it there, though. All Apple has to do is triple Mac, iPad, and iPhone sales without eroding margins and they'll be at $1 trillion market cap (holding P/E fixed). All that means is that Apple would be selling about 50 million Macs, 50 million iPads, and 150 million iPhones a year. Nothing outlandish about that at all. And what's really wild is they'd still have room to grow because with those numbers they'd still have relatively small shares of the PC (total market > 300 million today) and phone markets (total market > 1 billion today) (hard to say what their share of the tablet market would be).



    edit -- ok, it looks like my memory was wrong --- apparently Cisco was *predicted* to reach 1 trillion back during the bubble, but ti never actually happened. So if Apple reaches $1 trillion, they may very well be the first.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Damn... $350 by middle of the year for sure



    $350 by the end of next week...
  • Reply 16 of 20
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    I agree with Gene. I don't think we will see any new product lines, just the continued evolution of their existing products.



    I think that's true for 2011. But for 2012 and beyond, I think something major is in the works that would explain the need for so much expanded space in Apple's new campus in Cupertino (assuming a fair portion is built out by the end of 2012 or 2013) as well as the rumors that Apple is going to double the size of the server farm in North Carolina.



    I don't think Apple would need to double the size of their U.S. on-campus workforce simply to handle additional sales or evolutions of current product lines. IMO, it has to be because they're going to enter new markets and/or produce new types of products.



    The Mac is 27 years old. It's almost impossible to fathom what the device world is going to look like in another 27 years (at least it is for me.)
  • Reply 17 of 20
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Apple flies by Exxon market cap in 6 months. You heard it here first.



    The tech industry is more volatile and Exxon has been very, very steady. It?s the primary dividend stocks that supports my jet-setter lifestyle. LOL Seriously though, I think 6 months is possible but AAPL growth rate may have to take it up a notch. They are still ≈$75B away and I don?t foresee XOM stock slowing or decreasing as the economy picks up in the coming months.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    The tech industry is more volatile and Exxon has been very, very steady. It?s the primary dividend stocks that supports my jet-setter lifestyle. LOL Seriously though, I think 6 months is possible but AAPL growth rate may have to take it up a notch. They are still ≈$75B away and I don?t foresee XOM stock slowing or decreasing as the economy picks up in the coming months.



    I wish I could share your enthusiasm for a "growing economy" but alas I can't. As far as I can tell the only reason the economy is "growing" now is because the fed continues to "print money out of thin air". How much longer they continue to do that is something that is unknown to any of us. It's kind of like a family who is living off of credit cards ..... as long as they can find new suckers to grant them credit they can avoid "paying the piper" .... but sooner or later .... the piper must always be paid, and the longer we wait, the more painful it will be.



    They tell us that new jobs are being created. What they don't tell us, and what most of us don't want to hear, is that a lot of the new jobs are in lower paying industries while the jobs we continue to source out or replace with technology were the higher paying jobs. I suppose that someone a whole lot brighter than me will figure out an answer to all of this someday. I only hope I live long enough to see it because I am curious as hell to see how they "do it". I'll be 70 next year so they better hurry up .... I can't wait forever ... but you just know I'll try ..... lol.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    bc kellybc kelly Posts: 148member
    Oh well



    Guess sometimes you do NOT get what you pay for



    (see other post in article about Wall Street, Verizon, and "respect" for Apple)



    BC
  • Reply 20 of 20
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by newbee View Post


    I wish I could share your enthusiasm for a "growing economy" but alas I can't. As far as I can tell the only reason the economy is "growing" now is because the fed continues to "print money out of thin air". How much longer they continue to do that is something that is unknown to any of us. It's kind of like a family who is living off of credit cards ..... as long as they can find new suckers to grant them credit they can avoid "paying the piper" .... but sooner or later .... the piper must always be paid, and the longer we wait, the more painful it will be.



    They tell us that new jobs are being created. What they don't tell us, and what most of us don't want to hear, is that a lot of the new jobs are in lower paying industries while the jobs we continue to source out or replace with technology were the higher paying jobs. I suppose that someone a whole lot brighter than me will figure out an answer to all of this someday. I only hope I live long enough to see it because I am curious as hell to see how they "do it". I'll be 70 next year so they better hurry up .... I can't wait forever ... but you just know I'll try ..... lol.



    What appears to be "growth" at this time for the economy at large is due to the value of the dollar plummeting. Jobs will remain largely absent for another year or two, and very soon a whole bunch of new mortgage defaults are expected to cause another 5-8% drop in the housing market... these are the "known knowns". There are so many moving parts to this mess of an economy we're stuck with right now that the meddling of politicians will continue to drag it through the mud unnecessarily. Without the bailouts, corporate backdoor agreements, Fed and Treasury idiocy, etc., we might already be on the hill pushing the giant boulder ever upward. As it is, we're stuck under this rock and now the Boomers have begun to retire... another 2 decades (twenty years!!!) of an enormous number of retirees for the much smaller worker population to support is in store for good old Gen's X and Y. Yes, folks. We're in this one deep. Reeeeaaal deep.
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