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"Attempting to analyze Apple through the general mediocrity of the industry they're part of, is just not the way to look at Apple..."

  woensdag, 31 maart 2010

Apple now 3rd largest company...

Apple is No. 3, closing in on Microsoft.

With its market cap at $213.9 billion, only two U.S. companies are bigger than Apple

Here's one way to measure Apple's (AAPL) progress in March, a month in which its stock price set 18 all-time highs.

On March 9, a few days after the company announced the iPad's ship date, Apple's market capitalization (share price times shares outstanding) was $198.5 billion, making it one of the five most valuable U.S. companies, right below Wal-Mart (WMT) and ahead of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A).

On Friday March 12, the day Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPad, its market cap hit $205.48 making it, briefly, the No. 3 U.S. company ahead of Wal-Mart — a position it held for just one trading day.

On Tuesday March 30, following a report that it was building an iPhone for Verizon, its stock rose 1.5% to $235.85, its market cap hit $213.9 billion, and it overtook Wal-Mart once again to begin closing in on No. 2 Microsoft (MSFT).

Microsoft, meanwhile, hasn't been standing still. (See chart below the fold.)

Two weeks ago, Apple was $50 billion behind its oldest frenemy. Today the gap is $52 billion. To close it, Apple would have to reach a share price of $288.

But that's not out of the question. According to APPLinvestor's summary of analyst ratings, eight analysts have set targets of $280 or higher, and two of them — Credit Suisse's Bill Shope and Citigroup's Richard Gardner — are looking for Apple to hit $300 a share.

At $300 the company would have a market cap of $272 billion and be halfway to Exxon Mobile (XON).

Source: Wolfram Alpha

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1:40:38 PM    



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