Apple Is Now Silicon Valley's Most Valuable Company

Leaving aside the iPhone 4 hype a bit, Softpedia’s Mac editorial team would like to inform readers that Apple has just shot past Google as the Silicon Valley's most valuable company with a market capitalization at $224 billion – up 107 percent since last year.

MercuryNews reports that Apple has “major financial mojo,” having elbowed out Google as Silicon Valley's most valuable company. “With the total value of its publicly traded stock at $224 billion, up 107 percent from a year ago, Apple now has a market capitalization greater than all but two companies in the United States, Exxon Mobil and Microsoft,” the report reveals.

What’s even more impressive, and analysts worldwide agree, is that Apple has been able to achieve all this now, amid the worst recession in decades. Just recently, the Cupertino-based maker of consumer electronics recorded a 39-percent increase in profit to $9.4 billion, MercuryNews points out, noting that it was the highest profit earned by any company in the SV150. The Mercury News' annual report on Silicon Valley's largest publicly traded companies will include more information when it’s published on Sunday, the report claims.

“It's just mind-boggling,” Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf said when asked to comment on the matter. “Thanks to the iPhone, it just sailed through the recession. It was just an incredible engine.” Commenting in regards to the just-released iPad, Wolf said, “Now they have another product,” adding, “It just got better for 2010.”

“They have very efficient execution,” Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall said. Noting that Apple was well positioned for continued growth, Marshall added, “They are in a league of their own.” Apple now has $40 billion worth of cash and investments.

“The reason Apple has been able to do so well is that it produces products that consumers want,” Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu said. “That's something that's very difficult and, frankly, something a lot of companies struggle with.”