14 DAY TRIAL // Buoyed by strong iPhone sales but also many other right moves made by its CEO, Apple this week became the first company to ever hit a stock market value of $700 billion (€618 billion). That’s more than twice the value of arch rival Google Inc.
Shares of Apple were up 1.92 percent when the market closed yesterday, with a value of $122.02 (€107.79) per share, while the company itself reached $710 billion (€627 billion) valuation, the highest it has ever been, and the highest for any publicly traded company in history.
Bigger than its biggest rivals combined
Google’s market cap is $358 billion (€316.24 billion) while Microsoft’s valuation is estimated at $347 billion (€306.53 billion). Combined, the two technology giants still aren’t worth more than Apple today.
The news doesn’t surprise analysts who have long put a trillion-dollar valuation on Apple, a figure some of them believe is not too far off.
Apple’s growth has been particularly evident during the company’s last quarter, when it shipped a whopping 74 million iPhones. Along with sales of other key products, the Cupertino company posted a mind-boggling $18 billion (€15.9 billion) in profits.
When Tim Cook took the reins from Steve Jobs, Apple had around $50 billion in the bank. Today, after three years in the southerner’s hands, Apple’s cash balance has almost tripled, reaching $178 billion (€157 billion).
Innovation pace not slowing down
Despite what some will tell you about the pace of innovation at Apple under Tim Cook, nothing inside the Apple organization seems to be running at a reduced pace. At least nothing that matters to the consumer, or the stock holders.
For the past three years, Apple has been churning out constantly improved Macs, iPhones and iPads, and even introduced an all-new product category that promises to take the company to even greater heights.
This year Apple will release the Apple Watch, and is also expected to introduce several important product upgrades, including a bigger iPad, a 12-inch MacBook Air, new TV offerings, and perhaps more.
