Apple cruises past old market capitalization record, may hit $800 billion before earnings

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited May 2017
As the NASDAQ opened on Tuesday morning, Apple's stock price at the opening bell drove its market capitalization above historical highs, with $800 billion in sight and possibly reachable before the quarterly earnings report.




Apple's market capitalization broke $700 billion on Feb. 14. To reach $800 billion, the stock price needs to climb to $149.42 before trading stops on the stock prior to Apple's earnings announcement.

To reach $149.92, the stock only needs a $2.38 rise from Tuesday's opening price of $147.54. At 11:00 a.m. eastern time, the stock sits at around $148.

The math is likely to change after the announcement, after Apple announces how many shares it has bought back on the quarter. Apple has spent $144 billion on stock buybacks since initiating its capital return program in 2013.


Apple shares outstanding Q1 2017. Source: YCharts.com


Wall Street is predicting Apple's revenue for the quarter to be up year-over-year to $53.1 billion, with a gross margin of 38.7 percent. The company is expected to edge out last year's iPhone sales numbers, selling 52.2 million iPhones.

Apple sold a record 78.3 million iPhones in the first quarter of Apple's 2017 fiscal year that ended in December, but still saw extensive delays on 7 Plus shipments -- which could serve to boost the March quarter's sales numbers.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    ppietrappietra Posts: 288member
    Funny, just found out that Google is not reliable... Google gives the wrong market cap for Apple. If you go to NASDAQ, or others, Apple market cap is $775 billion, not $790 billion.
    SpamSandwichcali
  • Reply 2 of 31
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    It's all meaningless speculation and gambling, anyway.
    edited May 2017 teaearlegreyhotcali
  • Reply 3 of 31
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    ppietra said:
    Funny, just found out that Google is not reliable... Google gives the wrong market cap for Apple. If you go to NASDAQ, or others, Apple market cap is $775 billion, not $790 billion.


    I saw the same thing, all the other services I look at show the lower number.  Yahoo says 5.25B outstanding shares so that would 774B on a price of $147.5, I just went NASDAQ and they too are showing the same 774B, But you go to Google and they show the same outstanding share of 5.25B so their stupid engineers do not know how to do simple math, go figure image all the students who look up information like this on Google and got the wrong facts. Does not surprise me Google is creating fake news. They can figure out how to drive a car but can not multiply two numbers together. This reminds me of the Mars probe that crashed into the surface of the planet because the NASA engineers miss calculate and the probe came in too fast.

    For apple to top 800B they need to trade at $152.40 assuming Apple has not bought more share off the market.

    edited May 2017 cali
  • Reply 4 of 31
    charlesatlascharlesatlas Posts: 398member
    Didn't AppleInsider ask some years back if Apple would soon become the first trillion dollar corporation?
  • Reply 5 of 31
    ppietrappietra Posts: 288member
    maestro64 said:
    ppietra said:
    Funny, just found out that Google is not reliable... Google gives the wrong market cap for Apple. If you go to NASDAQ, or others, Apple market cap is $775 billion, not $790 billion.

    I saw the same thing, and I was not on google so it is not just Google other service seem to showing a lower Market Cap. what is the outstand share and we can crunch the numbers ourselves, Yahoo says 5.25B so that would 774B on a price of $147.5, I just went NASQUE and they too are showing the same 774B, so I am not sure where AI got their chart.
    Probably I wasn’t clear enough. Google states that the market cap is $790 billion, which is wrong. NASDAQ is a stock exchange so it has the right numbers.
    PS: noticed that you edited your comment, so probably you can disregard what I said above.
    edited May 2017
  • Reply 6 of 31
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    maestro64 said:
    ppietra said:
    Funny, just found out that Google is not reliable... Google gives the wrong market cap for Apple. If you go to NASDAQ, or others, Apple market cap is $775 billion, not $790 billion.


    I saw the same thing, all the other services I look at show the lower number.  Yahoo says 5.25B outstanding shares so that would 774B on a price of $147.5, I just went NASDAQ and they too are showing the same 774B, But you go to Google and they show the same outstanding share of 5.25B so their stupid engineers do not know how to do simple math, go figure image all the students who look up information like this on Google and got the wrong facts. Does not surprise me Google is creating fact news.

    For apple to top 800B they need to trade at $152.40 assuming apple has not bought more share off the market.

    As of 12:40pm EDT, Yahoo is showing $774.0B (at a current price of 147.56).   If that's accurate, the stock would have to rise 3.36% to get to $800B.  I don't think so (in the short term). 
  • Reply 7 of 31
    carnegiecarnegie Posts: 1,077member
    It isn't really a new capitalization record yet, as the old record that is often referred to (i.e. $774.69 billion, which would require $147.66 based on the last outstanding shares count) is an interday record - i.e., it was based on a closing price of $133. The following day AAPL reached (but did not close at) $133.60. That would represent an intraday record of $778.19 billion. To surpass that we would need to see an intraday price of $148.33.

    All of that should be caveated though, because Apple will likely report a lower outstanding shares count tomorrow. And, if it does, that lower count will be as of earlier this month. So the prices needed to reach certain capitalization marks are likely a bit higher.
    edited May 2017
  • Reply 8 of 31
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    ppietra said:
    maestro64 said:
    ppietra said:
    Funny, just found out that Google is not reliable... Google gives the wrong market cap for Apple. If you go to NASDAQ, or others, Apple market cap is $775 billion, not $790 billion.

    I saw the same thing, and I was not on google so it is not just Google other service seem to showing a lower Market Cap. what is the outstand share and we can crunch the numbers ourselves, Yahoo says 5.25B so that would 774B on a price of $147.5, I just went NASQUE and they too are showing the same 774B, so I am not sure where AI got their chart.
    Probably I wasn’t clear enough. Google states that the market cap is $790 billion, which is wrong. NASDAQ is a stock exchange so it has the right numbers.
    PS: noticed that you edited your comment, so probably you can disregard what I said above.

    yeah I caught my mistake after I re-read what I wrote and you wrote. and thought I edited before anyone saw it.
  • Reply 9 of 31
    carnegiecarnegie Posts: 1,077member
    For those questioning the accuracy of various sources: The most recent reported number (that I know of) that we have for outstanding shares (i.e. from Apple) is 5,246,540,000 as of January 20th, 2017.

    Apple typically files its quarterly reports with the SEC the day after it announces earnings. Those reports typically give an updated outstanding shares number as of two or three weeks after the past quarter ended.
  • Reply 10 of 31
    ronnronn Posts: 653member
    At the rate trading is going, AAPL will either end up a tiny fraction or even down a few pennies. Seems Wall Street is expecting a ho-hum earnings report. Current Market Cap just above $772 Billion.
  • Reply 11 of 31
    Didn't AppleInsider ask some years back if Apple would soon become the first trillion dollar corporation?
    They would be wrong.....PetroChina in 2007 became the first trillion dollar company.  
  • Reply 12 of 31
    ppietrappietra Posts: 288member
    carnegie said:
    For those questioning the accuracy of various sources: The most recent reported number (that I know of) that we have for outstanding shares (i.e. from Apple) is 5,246,540,000 as of January 20th, 2017.

    Apple typically files its quarterly reports with the SEC the day after it announces earnings. Those reports typically give an updated outstanding shares number as of two or three weeks after the past quarter ended.
    I thought that NASDAQ kept track of the number of outstanding shares without having to wait for a company SEC filling.
    Anyway, Google definitely has the wrong number. 
  • Reply 13 of 31
    ktappektappe Posts: 823member
    maestro64 said:
    ppietra said:
    Funny, just found out that Google is not reliable... Google gives the wrong market cap for Apple. If you go to NASDAQ, or others, Apple market cap is $775 billion, not $790 billion.


    Does not surprise me Google is creating fake news.


    Can we all come to an agreement on what "fake news" is?  I consider "fake news" intentionally-created falsehoods with an agenda to affect public behavior.  That is not what it seems like Google is doing here. They may have a simple math error or be using some other algorithm that is outputting a bad result.  I don't see intent to convey knowingly false information. Further, I don't see how Google could have an agenda here to purposely inflate Apple's market cap. Apple is literally a competitor to Google, so if anything Google would want Apple's market cap to seem lower, not higher. 

    TL;DR:  This is simply a mistake, not "fake news".
  • Reply 14 of 31
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    sog35 said:
    ronn said:
    At the rate trading is going, AAPL will either end up a tiny fraction or even down a few pennies. Seems Wall Street is expecting a ho-hum earnings report. Current Market Cap just above $772 Billion.
    earning is not releases till 4:30pm EST.

    My guess is it will be a none event. Up or down 2%.

    The big stuff happens later this year:

    1. New tax laws. Allowing 10% tax on foreign cash. Lowering corporate tax from 35% to 15%

    2. iPhone 8 release
    Once tax reform is enacted there will be an explosion of activity surrounding business in the US.
    equality72521
  • Reply 15 of 31
    gmgravytraingmgravytrain Posts: 882member
    For a company that's always said to be on the verge of collapse, it honestly looks like it's doing quite well despite all the warnings. I'm always hearing how a low P/E doesn't mean anything and I suppose that's true. Amazon's P/E is 10X Apple's P/E and yet the stock is considered as safe as can be. When big investors believe in a company all risks seem to disappear. Apple investors seem to be scared of everything Apple does and I don't think that's good at all. Apple would seem to be less riskier than Tesla but yet it's Tesla making all the share gains as investors shower Musk with ever more cash.

    I'm not expecting much in the way of share gains when Apple reports today. Apple is no FANG stock, for sure. I can only hope the stock price doesn't tank more than a couple of percent. It may be embarrassing for such a wealthy company to be overshadowed by the FANG stocks but that's just how the stock market works. I can at least depend on some decent dividends so maybe I shouldn't be so greedy. I've owned Apple since 2004 and have seen a decent amount of gains. It's just one financial quarter and I'm more concerned about yearly gains. I wish all fellow Apple shareholders good luck and to not lose faith in the company. I feel positive about Apple being able to repatriate its overseas cash at a 15% rate this year and that's a good thing to look forward to.
    edited May 2017
  • Reply 16 of 31
    jcdinkinsjcdinkins Posts: 114member
    For a company that's always said to be on the verge of collapse, it honestly looks like it's doing quite well despite all the warnings. I'm always hearing how a low P/E doesn't mean anything and I suppose that's true. Amazon's P/E is 10X Apple's P/E and yet the stock is considered as safe as can be. When big investors believe in a company all risks seem to disappear. Apple investors seem to be scared of everything Apple does and I don't think that's good at all. Apple would seem to be less riskier than Tesla but yet it's Tesla making all the share gains as investors shower Musk with ever more cash.

    I'm not expecting much in the way of share gains when Apple reports today. Apple is no FANG stock, for sure. I can only hope the stock price doesn't tank more than a couple of percent. It may be embarrassing for such a wealthy company to be overshadowed by the FANG stocks but that's just how the stock market works. I can at least depend on some decent dividends so maybe I shouldn't be so greedy. I've owned Apple since 2004 and have seen a decent amount of gains. It's just one financial quarter and I'm more concerned about yearly gains. I wish all fellow Apple shareholders good luck and to not lose faith in the company. I feel positive about Apple being able to repatriate its overseas cash at a 15% rate this year and that's a good thing to look forward to.
    So the new deal is FAANG which includes Apple.  I'm not a fan of it but whatever.  This thing is up over 50% since June's low last year.  Tim Cook/Apple are doing something right.  The chart has at least 10% more upside in it.  After that if you're not a true long keep an eye out for an exit.  Otherwise hold and enjoy the ride.
  • Reply 17 of 31
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    ktappe said:
    maestro64 said:
    ppietra said:
    Funny, just found out that Google is not reliable... Google gives the wrong market cap for Apple. If you go to NASDAQ, or others, Apple market cap is $775 billion, not $790 billion.


    Does not surprise me Google is creating fake news.


    Can we all come to an agreement on what "fake news" is?  I consider "fake news" intentionally-created falsehoods with an agenda to affect public behavior.  That is not what it seems like Google is doing here. They may have a simple math error or be using some other algorithm that is outputting a bad result.  I don't see intent to convey knowingly false information. Further, I don't see how Google could have an agenda here to purposely inflate Apple's market cap. Apple is literally a competitor to Google, so if anything Google would want Apple's market cap to seem lower, not higher. 

    TL;DR:  This is simply a mistake, not "fake news".
    There's no need to come to an agreement. Fake news is exactly what you say it is. Using it for an error, or something that somebody personally disagrees with based on opinion, is improper and inappropriate.
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 18 of 31
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    sog35 said:
    For a company that's always said to be on the verge of collapse, it honestly looks like it's doing quite well despite all the warnings. I'm always hearing how a low P/E doesn't mean anything and I suppose that's true. Amazon's P/E is 10X Apple's P/E and yet the stock is considered as safe as can be. When big investors believe in a company all risks seem to disappear. Apple investors seem to be scared of everything Apple does and I don't think that's good at all. Apple would seem to be less riskier than Tesla but yet it's Tesla making all the share gains as investors shower Musk with ever more cash.

    I'm not expecting much in the way of share gains when Apple reports today. Apple is no FANG stock, for sure. I can only hope the stock price doesn't tank more than a couple of percent. It may be embarrassing for such a wealthy company to be overshadowed by the FANG stocks but that's just how the stock market works. I can at least depend on some decent dividends so maybe I shouldn't be so greedy. I've owned Apple since 2004 and have seen a decent amount of gains. It's just one financial quarter and I'm more concerned about yearly gains. I wish all fellow Apple shareholders good luck and to not lose faith in the company. I feel positive about Apple being able to repatriate its overseas cash at a 15% rate this year and that's a good thing to look forward to.
    hmmmmm....seems like you are always bitching about AAPL low stock price compared to GOOG, AMZN, and MSFT.

    At this point why fight it? Why not just diversify and buy some GOOG, AMZN, FB, MSFT stock?

    The market is the market. And AAPL will never get GOOG type valuations until services are over 50% of its gross profit.

    Facts are Facts. Google has consistently grown revenue 20% year after year. Same with Amazon. Facebook is growing at 30-40%. And all these companies are virtual monopolies or at least oligopolies.  Apple on the other hand had revenue DECLINE last year.  3 years ago revenue was up only 5%.  So top line growth for Apple is not comparable with FANG.  Thus a lower valuation.  If Apple continues to grow services I can see the PE go to 20-22.  Which would give it a stock price of $160-$170.

    AAPL is the long game. They keep generating cash and keep buying back shares. Hold for 10 years and my guess is it will easily out perform the market.

    Google/Facebook/Netflix/Amazon will eventually face revenue slow down. When that happens the stocks will tank and the PE will be much lower. So long term I recommend AAPL overweight. But also have some Google and FB stock.
    Hmmm... Apple...
    + Rackspace... 
  • Reply 19 of 31
    minisu1980minisu1980 Posts: 132member
    It seems there is a lot of faith in 45's personal tax reduction wishlist getting put into law. If the Obamacare care repeal and replace effort (which every single GOP representive campaigned on for the last 7 years) is any indication, I wouldn't hold my breath on meaningful tax reform being enacted. The iPhone 8 will of course be meaningful, however I believe it will ultimately be the relentless march of profits, quarter after quarter, from service that will finally convince Wall Street to assign FANG like value to Apple.
  • Reply 20 of 31
    carnegiecarnegie Posts: 1,077member
    ppietra said:
    carnegie said:
    For those questioning the accuracy of various sources: The most recent reported number (that I know of) that we have for outstanding shares (i.e. from Apple) is 5,246,540,000 as of January 20th, 2017.

    Apple typically files its quarterly reports with the SEC the day after it announces earnings. Those reports typically give an updated outstanding shares number as of two or three weeks after the past quarter ended.
    I thought that NASDAQ kept track of the number of outstanding shares without having to wait for a company SEC filling.
    Anyway, Google definitely has the wrong number. 
    Nasdaq is using the exact share count that Apple last reported. I just checked to make sure.

    I don't think Nasdaq would have a way to know exactly how many shares are outstanding at a given moment, other than based on Apple's own reporting. It wouldn't know how many shares Apple had bought itself and retired. Apple buys shares both on the open market and through share repurchase agreements.
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