 "Apple reaches $700-bn valuation")
Apple Inc, already the world's largest company by market capitalisation, hit a new record value: $700 billion.
Shares of the iPhone maker rose 0.8 per cent to $119.59 at 9:35 am in New York, giving it a valuation of more than $701 billion, a milestone that no other US company has ever reached. That puts Apple at 1.7 times the capitalisation of the world's second-biggest company, Exxon Mobil Corp Exxon, which has lost about $43 billion during the five-month oil rout, has a capitalisation of $405 billion.
Confidence in Apple has been growing since the company unveiled larger-screened iPhones in September, followed by slimmer and faster iPads in October. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is updating Apple's core products while also pushing users deeper into the company's digital world with the introduction of a mobile payment system called Apple Pay and a smartwatch that's slated for release next year.
Apple has forecast revenue in the current quarter of $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion, compared to $57.6 billion during the October through December period in 2013.
Longest rally
Apple is up 48 per cent this year through Monday, heading for its sixth straight annual gain. That would be its longest streak ever, topping a five-year rally from 2003 to 2007. Its market capitalisation reached as high as $658 billion in September 2012, before a 44 per cent plunge in the stock price over the next seven months.
The Cupertino, California-based company's market cap has exceeded that of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp since May 2010. Microsoft now has a market capitalisation of $394 billion. Apple's value also moved above that of Google Inc in January 2010. The operator of the world's most popular search engine currently has a market cap of $369.7 billion.
"If you look at Apple as a tech company, it's one of the most exciting out there with a solid revenue earnings stream going forward," Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York, said in an interview. He manages about $925 million, including Apple shares.
Technology bullishness
Computer and software makers in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index have posted the third-largest gains among industries this year, besides health-care and utilities, rising 19 per cent. Technology shares have appreciated as plummeting global oil prices sap the value from energy stocks.
As a result, Microsoft's market value moved above that of Exxon earlier this month, briefly making it the world's second-largest company before the two companies resumed their previous rankings.
Technology stocks have been aided by signs of an accelerating economy, as data from labour to housing have indicated the recovery was strong enough to weather weakness overseas. The industry has also gotten a boost from better-than-estimated earnings. About 85 per cent of technology companies that have reported third-quarter results topped analyst forecasts on earnings, while 67 per cent beat on revenue.
This bullishness on the technology industry has been reflected in exchange-traded fund trading. The Powershares QQQ Trust, the largest ETF tracking the Nasdaq 100 Index, has attracted more than $4 billion in fresh cash over four straight weeks of inflows.
Even as Apple reaches $700 billion, it's not enough for some. Activist investor Carl Icahn has argued that Apple should be trading at $203 per share, giving it a valuation of $1.2 trillion, based on the company being on the verge of seeing tremendous revenue growth with its new products.
"We believe Apple remains dramatically undervalued," he wrote in an open letter to Cook on October 10 when Apple's valuation was $603.6 billion at the close of trading on October 8.
Shares of the iPhone maker rose 0.8 per cent to $119.59 at 9:35 am in New York, giving it a valuation of more than $701 billion, a milestone that no other US company has ever reached. That puts Apple at 1.7 times the capitalisation of the world's second-biggest company, Exxon Mobil Corp Exxon, which has lost about $43 billion during the five-month oil rout, has a capitalisation of $405 billion.
Confidence in Apple has been growing since the company unveiled larger-screened iPhones in September, followed by slimmer and faster iPads in October. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is updating Apple's core products while also pushing users deeper into the company's digital world with the introduction of a mobile payment system called Apple Pay and a smartwatch that's slated for release next year.
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"Given Apple's significant portfolio refresh over the past three months, the lack of innovation from competitors and a constructive spending backdrop in the US market, we believe Apple has opportunity to shine bright this holiday season," Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said November 24 in a note to investors.
Apple has forecast revenue in the current quarter of $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion, compared to $57.6 billion during the October through December period in 2013.
Longest rally
Apple is up 48 per cent this year through Monday, heading for its sixth straight annual gain. That would be its longest streak ever, topping a five-year rally from 2003 to 2007. Its market capitalisation reached as high as $658 billion in September 2012, before a 44 per cent plunge in the stock price over the next seven months.
The Cupertino, California-based company's market cap has exceeded that of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp since May 2010. Microsoft now has a market capitalisation of $394 billion. Apple's value also moved above that of Google Inc in January 2010. The operator of the world's most popular search engine currently has a market cap of $369.7 billion.
"If you look at Apple as a tech company, it's one of the most exciting out there with a solid revenue earnings stream going forward," Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York, said in an interview. He manages about $925 million, including Apple shares.
Technology bullishness
Computer and software makers in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index have posted the third-largest gains among industries this year, besides health-care and utilities, rising 19 per cent. Technology shares have appreciated as plummeting global oil prices sap the value from energy stocks.
As a result, Microsoft's market value moved above that of Exxon earlier this month, briefly making it the world's second-largest company before the two companies resumed their previous rankings.
Technology stocks have been aided by signs of an accelerating economy, as data from labour to housing have indicated the recovery was strong enough to weather weakness overseas. The industry has also gotten a boost from better-than-estimated earnings. About 85 per cent of technology companies that have reported third-quarter results topped analyst forecasts on earnings, while 67 per cent beat on revenue.
This bullishness on the technology industry has been reflected in exchange-traded fund trading. The Powershares QQQ Trust, the largest ETF tracking the Nasdaq 100 Index, has attracted more than $4 billion in fresh cash over four straight weeks of inflows.
Even as Apple reaches $700 billion, it's not enough for some. Activist investor Carl Icahn has argued that Apple should be trading at $203 per share, giving it a valuation of $1.2 trillion, based on the company being on the verge of seeing tremendous revenue growth with its new products.
"We believe Apple remains dramatically undervalued," he wrote in an open letter to Cook on October 10 when Apple's valuation was $603.6 billion at the close of trading on October 8.