Google surpasses Apple as world's most valuable company

Posted:
in General Discussion
After beating Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter of 2015, Google umbrella company Alphabet usurped Apple as the most valuable company in the world on Monday in after hours trading.




For the fourth quarter, Alphabet raked in $21.3 billion in total sales and adjusted profits of $8.67 for every Class A share, the company said in a prepared statement. Total sales were up 18 year over year, while advertising revenue was up 17 percent for the same period.

Shares popped after Alphabet's announcement, rising 1.22 percent to hit $752 per share in normal trading with a market capitalization of $517.17 billion. The stock kept rising after the bell, at one point touching $813 per share, bringing its market cap up to $559.13 billion. Apple ended the day down at $96.43 with a market cap of $538.7 billion.

Alphabet is seeing a renaissance in growth as its advertising business made big gains this quarter. The company's services division also saw wider adoption including Gmail, which passed one billion users in quarter four. Under the Alphabet umbrella, Google's "moonshot" projects" -- Wi-Fi balloons, self-driving cars, glucose-reading contact lenses, human longevity -- saw advancements, but cost the firm more than $3.56 billion over the last three months of 2015.

Apple, meanwhile, is losing ground after sitting as the world's most valuable company for more than three years. The iPhone maker reached the position in 2011 and throughout most of 2012 before being unseated by Exxon in 2013. Apple retook the lead later that year.

Despite bringing in revenue of $75.9 billion in a record-breaking first quarter, Apple stock is shedding value amid iPhone growth concerns and quickly diminishing iPad sales. For the current quarter, Apple expects year-over-year iPhone unit sales to decline for the first time since the handset launched in 2007.

As of this writing, Alphabet is trading up more than 5 percent at a market cap that will make it the world's most valuable company if those gains hold through to the opening bell tomorrow.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 202
    1. stock price is not the reason I buy Apple product; 2. I like Apple being a underdog; 3. Wall Street, well, is crazy/irrational 
    magman1979donth8mwhitebrian greenksecRayz2016[Deleted User]chiacornchipargonaut
  • Reply 2 of 202
    Can't wait for sogs response
    staticx57lord amhranawilliams87boredumblevi1983Rayz2016cnocbuichiacornchip
  • Reply 3 of 202
    Good. Google can now have the target on their back. Nobody likes the number one for very long.
    brucemc[Deleted User]cnocbuicornchipjbdragon
  • Reply 4 of 202
    I figured this was going to happen when Google shot up after Facebook announced earnings. Wall Street loves so-called services companies right now, especially ones with little exposure to China.   Not sure there's much Apple can do about that. I hope Apple management doesn't overreact and start doing dumb things (like buying Time Warner) just to try and change the Wall Street narrative on the company.
    badmonkcornchipicoco3h2p
  • Reply 5 of 202
    mubaili said:
    1. stock price is not the reason I buy Apple product; 2. I like Apple being a underdog; 3. Wall Street, well, is crazy/irrational 
    You got that right - especially number 2. The bigger Apple has gotten (and particularly in the post-Jobs era), the more complicated and buggy their products have become.
    macplusplusboredumbcnocbui
  • Reply 6 of 202
    Did they break out Android's numbers??
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 7 of 202
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,309member
    zroger73 said:
    mubaili said:
    1. stock price is not the reason I buy Apple product; 2. I like Apple being a underdog; 3. Wall Street, well, is crazy/irrational 
    You got that right - especially number 2. The bigger Apple has gotten (and particularly in the post-Jobs era), the more complicated and buggy their products have become.
    Were that true but it's BS.

    Products were much more buggy in the Jobs era, even though there were fewer of them, not to mention that resources were limited to the point that Apple had to shift back and forth from iOS to OS X. Now throw in two more iOS derived operating systems, and I would still say that products are better now.
    flaneuriqatedomnbob1montrosemacssumjuan[Deleted User]chiacornchipargonautjbdragon
  • Reply 8 of 202
    I really do not pretend to understand how "the market" works but I do know those that work in it are about as ethical as our government. At the end of the day I care about what Apple does as a company to create value for the consumers not what the stock trades for.
    mnbob1cornchipargonautjahbladeequality72521
  • Reply 9 of 202
    lukeilukei Posts: 379member
    Let's just analyse this. Apple is a hardware and services business which has a strong underlying business model. Google relies mainly on a the house of cards that is click advertising. 

    Yes their relative market caps make sense now... /s
    jony0jmey267jmnclcornchipmonstrosityargonautjahbladeequality72521
  • Reply 10 of 202
    People can spin it any way they want, but this is just not good news. The market currently has absolutely no confidence in Apple's ability to generate value from future growth opportunities. And, we can criticize or chuckle at Google all we want (I often get in on it too), but they have a narrative that the market is buying in droves. As it currently does with Facebook and Microsoft as well.

    Kudos to them.

    Apple truly can and must do better on conveying some sense of who or what it wants to be 2, 5, 10 years out. This is not rocket science. Every major company does it in some form or the other. That's a huge part of what CEOs are paid to do. It involves much more than talking about "industrial era taxes", "dollar versus yuan", etc.

    I realize a lot of people here do not own AAPL and therefore couldn't care less, but for those of us who have been very long-term shareholders of the company, this news hurts. There is simply no need for such underachievement. It's bewildering.

    (And, please spare me the vacuous stuff about "Wall Street casino" and such; those are simply sound bites).


    slprescottiqatedohorvaticlatifbpapple iigscnocbuiargonauth2phmm
  • Reply 11 of 202
    josujosu Posts: 217member
    Google will never live up to expectations. Period. It can't happen. It's absurd to punish Apple because Wall Street can't belive a tech company can be the most profitable ever and then betting that other one, totally dependent of ad revenue can beat it big, because to give it that valuarion well in advance of beating Apple revenue, not of this year, but for at least three to four years ago, and to beat its cash reserves they can only be betting that those guys will grow forever and earn at least double of what Apple can earn in a sustainable basis. Its impossible to achieve, so be prepared for the next Goigle miss. They got it in the past, they will got in the future. That will be a big crash.
    lowededwookiecornchip
  • Reply 12 of 202
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    8thman said:
    Did they break out Android's numbers??
    ROFLOL - good one!

    One day advertisers are going to wake up and realize that most of them are pissing their money away with this company.
    mnbob1cornchiph2p
  • Reply 13 of 202
    People can spin it any way they want, but this is just not good news. The market currently has absolutely no confidence in Apple's ability to generate value from future growth opportunities. And, we can criticize or chuckle at Google all we want (I often get in on it too), but they have a narrative that the market is buying in droves. As it currently does with Facebook and Microsoft as well.

    Kudos to them.

    Apple truly can and must do better on conveying some sense of who or what it wants to be 2, 5, 10 years out. This is not rocket science. Every major company does it in some form or the other. That's a huge part of what CEOs are paid to do. It involves much more than talking about "industrial era taxes", "dollar versus yuan", etc.

    I realize a lot of people here do not own AAPL and therefore couldn't care less, but for those of us who have been very long-term shareholders of the company, this news hurts. There is simply no need for such underachievement. It's bewildering.

    (And, please spare me the vacuous stuff about "Wall Street casino" and such; those are simply sound bites).


    I agree with you on this. And to be honest, based on what apple has done in the past few years I don't blame them. As a shareholder I am contemplating how 'long term' I am willing to hold at this point.
  • Reply 14 of 202
    Wall St. can now leave Apple in peace to change the world. /s
    buckalecbrian greenWiseGuy
  • Reply 15 of 202
    poksipoksi Posts: 482member
    People can spin it any way they want, but this is just not good news. The market currently has absolutely no confidence in Apple's ability to generate value from future growth opportunities. And, we can criticize or chuckle at Google all we want (I often get in on it too), but they have a narrative that the market is buying in droves. As it currently does with Facebook and Microsoft as well.

    Kudos to them.

    Apple truly can and must do better on conveying some sense of who or what it wants to be 2, 5, 10 years out. This is not rocket science. Every major company does it in some form or the other. That's a huge part of what CEOs are paid to do. It involves much more than talking about "industrial era taxes", "dollar versus yuan", etc.

    I realize a lot of people here do not own AAPL and therefore couldn't care less, but for those of us who have been very long-term shareholders of the company, this news hurts. There is simply no need for such underachievement. It's bewildering.

    (And, please spare me the vacuous stuff about "Wall Street casino" and such; those are simply sound bites).


    Have you perhaps at any point considered that there's nothing else to talk about apart from "dollar vs. yuan" and stuff? Numbers talk and services are still niche part of Apple's business without any clarity for the future growth. Cook can't really use Eddy Cue's stunts in this department to 'change the narrative' and let's be honest, Apple was lucky to hit the market with 3 new product categories within the same decade. It won't happen again in our lifetime. Now it is treated as any other hardware company with services, because market has matured and saturated in new categories where Apple pumped all its growth from.. On the other hand market believes Google is capable of rising the revenues despite this facts even in the future. This time I agree with them and I'm pretty much sure there won't be any Apple car or any other similar nonsense in the future. For any new product category you simply need another company, different mindset. This is as far as this one goes. I'm sorry about that, too. 
  • Reply 16 of 202
    poksipoksi Posts: 482member

    josu said:
    Google will never live up to expectations. Period. It can't happen. It's absurd to punish Apple because Wall Street can't belive a tech company can be the most profitable ever and then betting that other one, totally dependent of ad revenue can beat it big, because to give it that valuarion well in advance of beating Apple revenue, not of this year, but for at least three to four years ago, and to beat its cash reserves they can only be betting that those guys will grow forever and earn at least double of what Apple can earn in a sustainable basis. Its impossible to achieve, so be prepared for the next Goigle miss. They got it in the past, they will got in the future. That will be a big crash.
    Google is in the business of selling the information. Apple is in the business of selling the product with some services. Apart from music and the apps, they are not very good in anything else and even here it takes them years to move over a single milestone partly due to nature of the business and partly due to nature of Apple ;).  Google on the other hand changes and adapts to trends easily and quickly and is un disputable market leader  in advertising by far. I'm sorry to admit that Apple with its honest policy of privacy and other morals stands no chance in competing with Google in service industry. 
    mnbob1apple iigswonkothesaneargonautjahblade
  • Reply 17 of 202
    People can spin it any way they want, but this is just not good news. The market currently has absolutely no confidence in Apple's ability to generate value from future growth opportunities. And, we can criticize or chuckle at Google all we want (I often get in on it too), but they have a narrative that the market is buying in droves. As it currently does with Facebook and Microsoft as well.

    Kudos to them.

    Apple truly can and must do better on conveying some sense of who or what it wants to be 2, 5, 10 years out. This is not rocket science. Every major company does it in some form or the other. That's a huge part of what CEOs are paid to do. It involves much more than talking about "industrial era taxes", "dollar versus yuan", etc.

    I realize a lot of people here do not own AAPL and therefore couldn't care less, but for those of us who have been very long-term shareholders of the company, this news hurts. There is simply no need for such underachievement. It's bewildering.

    (And, please spare me the vacuous stuff about "Wall Street casino" and such; those are simply sound bites).


    Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

    Market multiples are often broadly and on company-specific basis just a reflection of sentiment from the collective crowd.  The sentiment from the market today on Apple is that nobody has any confidence in their ability to navigate this road bump and continue to grow.  I don't get this hardware vs software crap..... apple has been sitting on tens of billions of cash for years, they could have diversified their revenue stream but chose not to.  Why should management get a pass now for doing nothing when many people have for years said they law of large numbers and saturation would catch up to them.  Guess what Tim Cook, it did, you just had your head buried in the sand.

    I have no idea what Apple wants to be in 5 years nor does anyone on this board nor does the market.  Their primary product growth is negative/shrinking (according to mgmt), why should the market give them a market multiple when mgmt can't articulate a vision for what they will be in 3 years let alone 5, something every other company on earth does???
    edited February 2016 apple iigsjackansih2p
  • Reply 18 of 202
    josujosu Posts: 217member
    People can spin it any way they want, but this is just not good news. The market currently has absolutely no confidence in Apple's ability to generate value from future growth opportunities. And, we can criticize or chuckle at Google all we want (I often get in on it too), but they have a narrative that the market is buying in droves. As it currently does with Facebook and Microsoft as well.

    Kudos to them.

    Apple truly can and must do better on conveying some sense of who or what it wants to be 2, 5, 10 years out. This is not rocket science. Every major company does it in some form or the other. That's a huge part of what CEOs are paid to do. It involves much more than talking about "industrial era taxes", "dollar versus yuan", etc.

    I realize a lot of people here do not own AAPL and therefore couldn't care less, but for those of us who have been very long-term shareholders of the company, this news hurts. There is simply no need for such underachievement. It's bewildering.

    (And, please spare me the vacuous stuff about "Wall Street casino" and such; those are simply sound bites).


    Google in its financial report today uses the same dollar corrected metric.
    edited February 2016 mnbob1
  • Reply 19 of 202
    Imho..this a good thing.. Let apple have something to chase.... Something to keep them on their toes ..
    h2p
  • Reply 20 of 202
    poksi said:
    People can spin it any way they want, but this is just not good news. The market currently has absolutely no confidence in Apple's ability to generate value from future growth opportunities. And, we can criticize or chuckle at Google all we want (I often get in on it too), but they have a narrative that the market is buying in droves. As it currently does with Facebook and Microsoft as well.

    Kudos to them.

    Apple truly can and must do better on conveying some sense of who or what it wants to be 2, 5, 10 years out. This is not rocket science. Every major company does it in some form or the other. That's a huge part of what CEOs are paid to do. It involves much more than talking about "industrial era taxes", "dollar versus yuan", etc.

    I realize a lot of people here do not own AAPL and therefore couldn't care less, but for those of us who have been very long-term shareholders of the company, this news hurts. There is simply no need for such underachievement. It's bewildering.

    (And, please spare me the vacuous stuff about "Wall Street casino" and such; those are simply sound bites).


    Have you perhaps at any point considered that there's nothing else to talk about apart from "dollar vs. yuan" and stuff? Numbers talk and services are still niche part of Apple's business without any clarity for the future growth. Cook can't really use Eddy Cue's stunts in this department to 'change the narrative' and let's be honest, Apple was lucky to hit the market with 3 new product categories within the same decade. It won't happen again in our lifetime. Now it is treated as any other hardware company with services, because market has matured and saturated in new categories where Apple pumped all its growth from.. On the other hand market believes Google is capable of rising the revenues despite this facts even in the future. This time I agree with them and I'm pretty much sure there won't be any Apple car or any other similar nonsense in the future. For any new product category you simply need another company, different mindset. This is as far as this one goes. I'm sorry about that, too. 
    I predict that spaceship they are building will become their last straw, their Waterloo....if SJ was still here he could make it work for Apple, but now it just looks like a big white elephant.
    Oh and I have been an Apple user since 1998, but since Apple went backwards on the Mac Mini upgrade, created a MacPro only the seriously rich can afford, busted up the Aperture party, went all stupid and thin on everything....I've lost my patience with Apple.
    edited February 2016 apple iigscnocbuipjanders
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