Apple now most valuable company OF ALL TIME
Tops Redmond's bubble-era record
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Apple first earned the title of the world's highest-valued company in 2011, but rumors about the impending iPhone 5 sent its stock soaring to new heights on Monday, earning it a new distinction, that of the highest-valued company in stock market history.
Shares of the fruity firm swelled more than 2 per cent on Monday, topping $664 and later passing the ominous $666 mark in after-hours trading, putting its total market capitalization at $624.6bn.
That beats the previous record of $622bn, set by Microsoft during a brief, shining moment in 1999.
In comparison, Redmond's fortunes have flagged over the last decade. It's currently valued at around $257bn, down almost 60 per cent from its peak, and in July it reported its first-ever quarterly loss, despite posting record revenues.
These days Microsoft is only the fourth most valuable company in terms of market capitalization, behind Apple and the oil giants Exxon Mobil and PetroChina. Exxon Mobil, the second-ranked company, is itself now worth only about 65 per cent as much as Apple.
Judging by the latest figures from the United Nations, Apple's current valuation is higher than the gross domestic product of Hong Kong, Israel, and Singapore combined.
Mind you, if we take inflation into account, Microsoft's bubble-era valuation looks even more impressive. The company's peak 1999 market cap would be worth $857.2bn in 2012 dollars, making Microsoft comparatively much more valuable than Apple at both companies' respective peaks.
Which leads your Reg hack to wonder what other companies might beat Apple's current valuation, once currency inflation is taken into account. The Dutch East India Company comes to mind. Are there others? ®
COMMENTS
Re: As an Apple fan I'd just like to say.....
Being a fan of a corporation is bizarre, gloating over their market cap as if that has a bearing on the quality of their products is worse still. I like Apple products and own shares in them, but I'd be be embarrassed to make that kind of post.
Typical journo rubbish
While they all hailed the large market cap, I had to Google to find out the more important info:
The company's ``price-to-earnings ratio'' is 15.6, compared to 16.1 for the S&P 500 overall. That suggests investors, unlike analysts, don't believe the company can grow its profits much from current levels.
There you have it. Unless the Board of Apple can pull another rabbit out of the hat like they did with the iPod, iPhone and iPad, then the stock is fully valued. With the TV industry in the doldrums and Steve Jobs no longer with them, it's difficult to see how any rumoured new Apple consumer appliance will maintain their momentum.
Like many others, I'm old enough to remember what happened to Apple Computer Inc the last time Steve Jobs departed from the company he co-founded.
Re: Microsoft Bashing Opportunity
Yes, Apple have the ideas, they have the solid state MP3 player, initially invented by Diamond. They have the GUI desktop, initially invented by Xerox. They have the mobile phone, initially invented by a consortium - Racal and Siemens & Motorola seem to spring to mind. They have the tablet computer, the first tablet OS was an MS effort, but tablets have appeared in Sci-Fi for decades. They had the Newton pad PDS, first PDAs were by Psion.
Apple copy things which exist and generally make an excellent job of it, they do not do new products lines or concepts. I like quit a bit of Apple stuff, I just don't pretend that it's anything but a nice, well polished version of what has already existed, with a little good time to market thrown in.
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