Apple passes Microsoft, takes second place in S&P 500 rankings [u]
Apple's float-adjusted market cap hit $242 billion Thursday, making it the second-largest company on the S&P 500 and pushing it ahead of Microsoft, which finished the day with a $239 billion open market cap as calculated by the Standard & Poor's.
According to MarketWatch, Apple surpassed Microsoft with a float-adjusted cap of $241.5 billion. Those numbers do not use the full market basis, but apply only to shares on the open market.
Apple's total was larger than Microsoft's index market value of $239.5 billion on the Standard & Poor's. However, in terms of total actual market cap, Apple remains well below Microsoft, with a difference of more than $30 billion. Previously, a number of outlets, including MarketWatch, had incorrectly reported that Apple's total market cap had surpassed Microsoft.
The milestone came after Apple announced on Tuesday that its profits increased nearly 90 percent year over year, thanks to strong Mac and iPhone sales.
Exxon still remains the top company on the S&P 500., with a market cap of $324 billion. Earlier this year Apple moved past Berkshire Hathaway and Walmart to become the third-largest U.S. company in terms of market cap.
The numbers could change quickly, though, with Microsoft announcing its earnings Thursday afternoon. Apple's stock increased $7.25, or 2.8 percent, in trading on Thursday to propel it past Microsoft. AAPL is also significantly up from its 52-week low of $119.38.
Apple's growth has been largely credited to the company's CEO, Steve Jobs. In December, the Apple co-founder was named the world's best-performing CEO for increasing his company's market cap a whopping $150 billion over a 12-year span.
According to MarketWatch, Apple surpassed Microsoft with a float-adjusted cap of $241.5 billion. Those numbers do not use the full market basis, but apply only to shares on the open market.
Apple's total was larger than Microsoft's index market value of $239.5 billion on the Standard & Poor's. However, in terms of total actual market cap, Apple remains well below Microsoft, with a difference of more than $30 billion. Previously, a number of outlets, including MarketWatch, had incorrectly reported that Apple's total market cap had surpassed Microsoft.
The milestone came after Apple announced on Tuesday that its profits increased nearly 90 percent year over year, thanks to strong Mac and iPhone sales.
Exxon still remains the top company on the S&P 500., with a market cap of $324 billion. Earlier this year Apple moved past Berkshire Hathaway and Walmart to become the third-largest U.S. company in terms of market cap.
The numbers could change quickly, though, with Microsoft announcing its earnings Thursday afternoon. Apple's stock increased $7.25, or 2.8 percent, in trading on Thursday to propel it past Microsoft. AAPL is also significantly up from its 52-week low of $119.38.
Apple's growth has been largely credited to the company's CEO, Steve Jobs. In December, the Apple co-founder was named the world's best-performing CEO for increasing his company's market cap a whopping $150 billion over a 12-year span.
Comments
Apple being "more valuable" than Microsoft in terms of market cap is simply laughable. Look at revenues, profits, and assets, and it's no contest.
I'm headed to Gourmet Haus Staudt to lift a beer in your honor and my stock portfolio!
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AMSFT
MSFT Market Cap
AAPL Market Cap
What am I missing? Is Yahoo just really bad at calculating Market Cap? Is there some other measure of market cap?
Apple's market cap hit $242 billion Thursday, making it the second-largest company on the S&P 500 and pushing it ahead of Microsoft, which finished the day with a $239 billion market cap.
I think AI jumped the gun on this... Last I checked, MSFT market cap was at 275 billion. As much as I'd like to see AAPL pass MSFT, it's just not there yet. Give it another month.
What am I missing? Is Yahoo just really bad at calculating Market Cap? Is there some other measure of market cap?
Was just thinking that too... MSFT ended up at the end of the day so even if Market Cap is calculated at the end/start of each day, then I don't know where AI is getting their numbers from...
You aren't missing anything. Neil is an idiot.
Sadly, this seems to be the case.
Oh well, the beer will be tasty nonetheless.
Was just thinking that too... MSFT ended up at the end of the day so even if Market Cap is calculated at the end/start of each day, then I don't know where AI is getting their numbers from...
Even if market cap was calculated from the previous day's close, today's price changes for MSFT and AAPL wouldn't be enough to cover the difference. We're talking $30B, more than 10% of Apple's current market capitalization.
Looks like AI needs to change the batteries on their calculator.
I think it's starting to get a little bit too crazy with the stock price....ultimately that means a mini crash in the future.
Apple being "more valuable" than Microsoft in terms of market cap is simply laughable. Look at revenues, profits, and assets, and it's no contest.
Not as crazy as you might think... Microsoft has a $10B war chest, pays out profits in the form of a dividend, and has an 8% compounded growth rate over the past five years. Still, everything I see shows their market cap closer to $264B (after hours), which is still above Apple at $241B.
Microsoft hasn't really done much for growth, and hasn't been able to innovate into new markets effectively (and profitably).
I think AI jumped the gun on this... Last I checked, MSFT market cap was at 275 billion. As much as I'd like to see AAPL pass MSFT, it's just not there yet. Give it another month.
Last time I checked it out, AAPL will probably need to top $301 per share to surpass MSFT. Looking at today and yesterday it will happen soon, but what's wrong with AI? Who knew they were innumerate?
Shaw Wu? Gene Munster? Katy Huberty? Gartner? Enderle?
Sadly, this seems to be the case. Looks like AI needs to change the batteries on their calculator.
For MSFT to have a 238b cap the stock would have to hit somewhere around 27.25