Apple stock sets new record at $135.09, market cap exceeds $700B once again

AppleInsider

Apple's shares are continuing to increase in value, with market movements pushing the iPhone producer's stock price beyond yesterday's record-setting value, by hitting a new intra-day record of $135.09, as well as ending the day with an all-time closing high of $135.01.

Apple started in a strong position, thanks to yesterday's impressive market performance that broke the price record of $132.54 set in May 2015. MarketWatch reports Apple opened today at $133.47, briefly reaching a day low of $133.25, and hitting $135.09 before markets closed for the day.

The high share price also means Apple has a market capitalization of $700.5 billion. The last time it broke the $700 billion milestone was in February 2015, making it the first U.S. company in history to close at that figure, before growing to just under $775 billion later that month.

After hours trading does not appear to be slowing down the rise in the share's price. At the time of writing, Apple's share price is trading higher than the intra-day high, at $135.24.

It is likely investors will keep the rising price trend going, with analysts suggesting it can go far higher in fiscal year 2017. While some suggest Apple could climb to between $140 and $150 per share, with Goldman Sachs' confidence in the fall iPhone refresh prompting it to raise its target price to $150, some analysts believe the price could go as high as $156 per share.

UBS analyst Steven Milunovich said in a research note that Apple's Services arm is undervalued by investors, compared to other parts of the company. After generating $7.17 billion in revenue in the last quarter and demonstrating steady revenue growth, Milunovich suggests "If Apple services were valued similarly to PayPal, the stock would be at least 10 percent higher."

ajohn

Pardon my ignorance, but can someone explain how the stock price is at an all-time high, but the market capitalization hasn't reached the all-time high yet?

anantksundaram

The forward PE ratio is 13.5x. That includes $11.75 in cash per share. So, the PE of operating assets is ~12x. You don't need to be a genius to know that the stock is still ridiculously undervalued relative to the average stock in the market (whose forward PE, btw, is 17.5x).

I would buy more if Apple were not too significant a part of my portfolio -- I don't wish to get any more undiversified. :-/

carnegie

ajohn said:

Pardon my ignorance, but can someone explain how the stock price is at an all-time high, but the market capitalization hasn't reached the all-time high yet?

There are fewer shares outstanding than there were a couple years ago when Apple was trading at near this price level. Apple has spent around $70 billion buying back shares over those 2 years.

amarkap

I am so happy for Apple to finally have its success...well at least in terms of its share price.  I bought a whole bunch of shares back in 2015 at a price around $127.00.  I've watched the value of my Apple shares plummet for no reason I could think of outside of the usual negative Apple noise.  And so I held on...and on...and on...because I believed in the company and its products.  I hoped one day I would be in green again.  Well, I made it out a few days ago and so today I sold a 90% of my shares at $134.00.  I didn't make a lot of money in the end but I'm more than happy with my 6% ROI.  Now, I hold a very small position in Apple.  Do I think it will make it over $140.00.  Yes, I do.  I will miss that ride but that is okay.  This time around I want to diversify as before I was all in Apple.  I know that is a mistake to be all in one company...but I did because again I believed in the company. 

Again, congratulations Apple on their Market Cap being a great company.

anantksundaram

ajohn said:

Pardon my ignorance, but can someone explain how the stock price is at an all-time high, but the market capitalization hasn't reached the all-time high yet?

Sure: share repurchases have reduced the overall share count quite significantly..

anantksundaram

amarkap said:

I am so happy for Apple to finally have its success...well at least in terms of its share price.  I bought a whole bunch of shares back in 2015 at a price around $127.00.  I've watched the value of my Apple shares plummet for no reason I could think of outside of the usual negative Apple noise.  And so I held on...and on...and on...because I believed in the company and its products.  I hoped one day I would be in green again.  Well, I made it out a few days ago and so today I sold a 90% of my shares at $134.00.  I didn't make a lot of money in the end but I'm more than happy with my 6% ROI.  Now, I hold a very small position in Apple.  Do I think it will make it over $140.00.  Yes, I do.  I will miss that ride but that is okay.  This time around I want to diversify as before I was all in Apple.  I know that is a mistake to be all in one company...but I did because again I believed in the company. 

Again, congratulations Apple on their Market Cap being a great company.

Actually, you made closer to 8%, since you got  at least 2% in dividends during that time! ;-)

lkrupp

anantksundaram said:

ajohn said:

Pardon my ignorance, but can someone explain how the stock price is at an all-time high, but the market capitalization hasn't reached the all-time high yet?

Sure: share repurchases have reduced the overall share count quite significantly..

And the negative spin financial pundits are all over this, declaring Apple’s market cap to be an illusion, warning investors to not be fooled by the stock price, that Apple is still a failed company, and to consider dumping AAPL right away. Warren Buffet seems to disagree with these pundits, however. Who to believe? The most successful investor ever to walk the planet or some two-bit yokels running their mouthes off on MarketWatch, CNBC, or Yahoo Finances? 

BuffyzDead

Break Out The Bubbly !!!!!

Sold 1/10 of my shares at $135/per
purchased all my shares, pre 7 to 1 split !

Next sell tier for me is another 2/10's of my shares at $150/per

GO APPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sflocal

I bought a bunch back in 2008 when the market collapsed.  I remember hitting the refresh button during the big crash one day literally watching AAPL plunging... Against the advice of my business partner (he was watching beside me) I bought as much I could swallow.  My friend decided to play it safe and keep everything in cash.

Needless to say, I kept it for the long haul... to this day my buddy still kicks himself in the backside for not seeing the huge opportunity that was in front of him.  It was a little over one year after the iPhone was being sold and I just knew that Apple was onto something big.

I'm still going long on AAPL.  The stock is still ridiculously undervalued, especially compared to the snake-oil shops like Google and Amazon.

B-Mc-C

How is the market cap reported as $700B?  Google Finance reports it as 714B.  Yahoo Finance (and the Stocks app iOS) reports it as 708B.  Only place I can find it close to 700B is MSN Money ($699B).  What gives?  Shouldn't everyone be reporting the same market cap?  Price per share x number of shares outstanding = market cap.

Soli

B-Mc-C said:

How is the market cap reported as $700B?  Google Finance reports it as 714B.  Yahoo Finance (and the Stocks app iOS) reports it as 708B.  Only place I can find it close to 700B is MSN Money ($699B).  What gives?  Shouldn't everyone be reporting the same market cap?  Price per share x number of shares outstanding = market cap.

It's frustrating when they don't have the same information. You don't know who to believe.

carnegie

B-Mc-C said:

How is the market cap reported as $700B?  Google Finance reports it as 714B.  Yahoo Finance (and the Stocks app iOS) reports it as 708B.  Only place I can find it close to 700B is MSN Money ($699B).  What gives?  Shouldn't everyone be reporting the same market cap?  Price per share x number of shares outstanding = market cap.

Different sources are probably using different outstanding share counts, e.g. some may be using a rounded number. I'm not sure how Google Finance is coming up with $714 billion. The only thing that quickly comes to mind to get to that number is to use an estimate of the diluted share count (which is used as the basis for EPS figures) and perhaps the after-hours AAPL trading price which is currently a bit higher than today's closing price.

We don't know for sure what the outstanding share count is right now, so most sources will use what Apple last reported. That was 5.24654 billion shares as of January 20th. At $135.02 / share that gives a market cap of just over $708 billion. But if, e.g., you used 5.2 billion shares that would give a market cap of just over $702 billion. 

anantksundaram

B-Mc-C said:

How is the market cap reported as $700B?  Google Finance reports it as 714B.  Yahoo Finance (and the Stocks app iOS) reports it as 708B.  Only place I can find it close to 700B is MSN Money ($699B).  What gives?  Shouldn't everyone be reporting the same market cap?  Price per share x number of shares outstanding = market cap.

In principle, yes, they should. In practice, there is always a slight disagreement about the actual number of shares outstanding, even among analysts. This is especially a problem with companies that have repurchased or issued a lot of shares (or a lot of their employee options get exercised).

Soli

carnegie said:

B-Mc-C said:

How is the market cap reported as $700B?  Google Finance reports it as 714B.  Yahoo Finance (and the Stocks app iOS) reports it as 708B.  Only place I can find it close to 700B is MSN Money ($699B).  What gives?  Shouldn't everyone be reporting the same market cap?  Price per share x number of shares outstanding = market cap.

Different sources are probably using different outstanding share counts, e.g. some may be using a rounded number. I'm not sure how Google Finance is coming up with $714 billion. The only thing that quickly comes to mind to get to that number is to use an estimate of the diluted share count (which is used as the basis for EPS figures) and perhaps the after-hours AAPL trading price which is currently a bit higher than today's closing price.

We don't know for sure what the outstanding share count is right now, so most sources will use what Apple last reported. That was 5.24654 billion shares as of January 20th. At $135.02 / share that gives a market cap of just over $708 billion. But if, e.g., you used 5.2 billion shares that would give a market cap of just over $702 billion. 

OK, so Google Finance has $714.66 billion and 5.25 billion shares because it rounded the number of shares to the nearest hundredth billion.

applesauce007

$700 Billion.  Danm.
1 Trillion here we come!

Soli

applesauce007 said:

$700 Billion.  Danm.
1 Trillion here we come!

We said that last time, and the horizon looks really suspect for the stock market (which it didn't last time). And let's keep in mind that tech stocks are first to suffer. Now it's good that Buffett is investing, but he does say that you shouldn't bother unless you plan to invest for a decade (although I think that only applies to individuals).

amarkap

anantksundaram said:

amarkap said:

I am so happy for Apple to finally have its success...well at least in terms of its share price.  I bought a whole bunch of shares back in 2015 at a price around $127.00.  I've watched the value of my Apple shares plummet for no reason I could think of outside of the usual negative Apple noise.  And so I held on...and on...and on...because I believed in the company and its products.  I hoped one day I would be in green again.  Well, I made it out a few days ago and so today I sold a 90% of my shares at $134.00.  I didn't make a lot of money in the end but I'm more than happy with my 6% ROI.  Now, I hold a very small position in Apple.  Do I think it will make it over $140.00.  Yes, I do.  I will miss that ride but that is okay.  This time around I want to diversify as before I was all in Apple.  I know that is a mistake to be all in one company...but I did because again I believed in the company. 

Again, congratulations Apple on their Market Cap being a great company.

Actually, you made closer to 8%, since you got  at least 2% in dividends during that time! ;-)

Yes I did collect dividends along the way...so probably closer to 8%.  Agreed!
Thanks to Apple I'm all set to buy a new Snow Blower this weekend.

randominternetperson

Soli said:

carnegie said:

B-Mc-C said:

How is the market cap reported as $700B?  Google Finance reports it as 714B.  Yahoo Finance (and the Stocks app iOS) reports it as 708B.  Only place I can find it close to 700B is MSN Money ($699B).  What gives?  Shouldn't everyone be reporting the same market cap?  Price per share x number of shares outstanding = market cap.

Different sources are probably using different outstanding share counts, e.g. some may be using a rounded number. I'm not sure how Google Finance is coming up with $714 billion. The only thing that quickly comes to mind to get to that number is to use an estimate of the diluted share count (which is used as the basis for EPS figures) and perhaps the after-hours AAPL trading price which is currently a bit higher than today's closing price.

We don't know for sure what the outstanding share count is right now, so most sources will use what Apple last reported. That was 5.24654 billion shares as of January 20th. At $135.02 / share that gives a market cap of just over $708 billion. But if, e.g., you used 5.2 billion shares that would give a market cap of just over $702 billion. 

OK, so Google Finance has $714.66 billion and 5.25 billion shares because it rounded the number of shares to the nearest hundredth billion.

"nearest hundredth billion" is another way of saying "nearest 10 million"?

Soli

randominternetperson said:

Soli said:

carnegie said:

B-Mc-C said:

How is the market cap reported as $700B?  Google Finance reports it as 714B.  Yahoo Finance (and the Stocks app iOS) reports it as 708B.  Only place I can find it close to 700B is MSN Money ($699B).  What gives?  Shouldn't everyone be reporting the same market cap?  Price per share x number of shares outstanding = market cap.

Different sources are probably using different outstanding share counts, e.g. some may be using a rounded number. I'm not sure how Google Finance is coming up with $714 billion. The only thing that quickly comes to mind to get to that number is to use an estimate of the diluted share count (which is used as the basis for EPS figures) and perhaps the after-hours AAPL trading price which is currently a bit higher than today's closing price.

We don't know for sure what the outstanding share count is right now, so most sources will use what Apple last reported. That was 5.24654 billion shares as of January 20th. At $135.02 / share that gives a market cap of just over $708 billion. But if, e.g., you used 5.2 billion shares that would give a market cap of just over $702 billion. 

OK, so Google Finance has $714.66 billion and 5.25 billion shares because it rounded the number of shares to the nearest hundredth billion.

"nearest hundredth billion" is another way of saying "nearest 10 million"?

It is, but I didn't use it since the notation being used is in billions to the 2nd decimal point.