Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $0.64, or 0.66%, to close at $97.67, a new 52-week closing high. Apple’s intraday 52-week high stands at $97.88, set on July 23, 2014.
Apple’s previous 52-week closing high was $97.19, set on July 23th. Apple’s all-time high stands at $100.72, set during trading on September 21, 2012.
Apple’s 52-week low stands at $62.05.
Apple, the world’s most valuable company, currently has a market value of $588.92 billion.
The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:
1. Apple (AAPL) – $588.92
2. Exxon Mobil (XOM) – $443.09B
3. Google (GOOG) – $398.12B
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $366.64B
5. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) – $305.96B
Selected companies’ current market values:
• IBM (IBM) – $194.01B
• Intel (INTC) – $170.60B
• Amazon (AMZN) – $149.10B
• Disney (DIS) – $149.34B
• Cisco (CSCO) – $133.04B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) – $66.30B
• Adobe (ADBE) – $36.12B
• Yahoo! (YHOO) – $36.65B
• Nokia (NOK) – $30.60B
• Sirius XM (SIRI) – $20.76B
• ARM Holdings (ARMH) – $20.55B
• Sony (SNE) – $18.45B
• BlackBerry (BBRY) – $5.33B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) – $2.87B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) – $278.44M
AAPL quote via NASDAQ here.
I know this may sound childish but I can’t wait for the share price to go to a few hundred again…. 3, 4, or 5 hundred would be nice.
“Nice” thought, but difficult in reality at this point… There are now about 6 BILLION shares outstanding, so AAPL at $100 means Apple’s market cap is about $600 BILLION. Compare that to other “large” companies on the list above, such as Sony (less than $20B) and HP (less than $70B). Going to AAPL $200 means ANOTHER $600 BILLION needs to be invested in Apple.
That’s NOT going to happen easily, like before, when AAPL was at a split-adjusted $5 a share, and it only took an additional $10B or so in new investment to double the price to $10. Doubling AAPL now means Apple will be worth about $1.2 TRILLION. For comparison, the entire NASDAQ market (including Apple), with something like 2600 companies listed, had a TOTAL market cap of about $6 trillion in late 2013. If AAPL ever got to $500 “again,” it would probably be worth more by itself than the rest of the NASDAQ market COMBINED.
Before the recent split, AAPL had gone up an average of about $100 per year (“leveling out” the wide swings), for the last five or six years. Post-split, that’s about $14.3 increase in price per year. That’s a more realistic expectation. As AAPL goes up, the percentage growth (for the same price increase) goes down, and that is also expected. Going forward, a greater part of the total return from AAPL will come from the quarterly dividend, which will likely increase steadily over time.
Investors expecting a “10x over 10 years” return from new investment in AAPL (because it happened before) should probably look elsewhere. But a 10-15% (average) increase in stock price per year, while getting healthy quarterly dividends, is STILL an excellent investment.
Strictly speaking, no money needs to be invested in AAPL to drive it to any particular price. If current stock holders suddenly decided not to sell below $200 then the new price would be $200. Stock prices are not like bank accounts. Stock prices are set by the small number of trades that took place today.
Market cap is a useful number but should not be confused with value. If everyone decided to cash out tomorrow the stock price would tank.
Market cap is a measure of “speculated” value (investing in stocks is an act of “speculation”), but there are REAL dollars behind it. If AAPL is $200 per share, that means that someone was willing to sell for $200 a share, and someone was willing to buy for $200. Therefore, Apple at AAPL = $200 (with the current number of shares outstanding) DOES have a VALUE of about $1.2 TRILLION. There is nothing “confusing” about it…
> If everyone decided to cash out tomorrow the stock price would tank.
Of course… Don’t state the obvious. 🙂 And if the price of AAPL was $10 a share after the mass exodus, Apple would be worth about $60 billion (more like HP), and THAT would be Apple’s new VALUE.
Most of the data is from ycharts:
Apple’s EPS growth rate was 20 percent in the June quarter and 15 percent in the March quarter. From leaked reports it looks like Apple is ramping up to sell many more iPhones this season than in the past. EPS growth should be at least 15 – 30 percent going forward. Today the P/E is 15.75 and EPS is $6.19. In one year, with an average growth rate of 22 percent, the EPS should be $7.55. So, with a P/E of 22 the stock should be trading at $166. This is approximately 70 percent higher from where it is trading today.
In the conference call Tim mentioned Apple has the management team in place to take on a large acquisition. So, let’s say they purchase a company the size of IBM with a market cap of $194B. This is roughly worth $32 a share. $166 + $32 = $198 = pretty close to $200 a share and 102% more than today.
I did NOT say AAPL could not attain any particular number. I said it would become progressively more difficult to reach multiples of its current value. Simple measures such as “P/E” and “EPS” will no longer apply to Apple, as a comparison with other tech companies that have market caps measured in millions, not hundreds of billions (soon to be trillions) of dollars.
Soon, Apple (as a stock) will become a market “unto itself.” That is, at some point, its financial properties may more closely resemble something like gold – AAPL going up due to “good news” may have an inverse effect on the rest of the stock market (and even other types of investments). Investors may buy reliable cash-rich AAPL for “safety,” when the rest of the market looks risky. Or they may “divest” in AAPL, if things are looking bright and they seek higher growth potential.
Currently, every $1 increase in the price of AAPL requires about $6 BILLION in new investment. A $100 increase requires $600 BILLION more. To double again from there requires $1.2 TRILLION more. Where does that money come from…? Investors do not collectively have it laying around as “cash.” One source is from the sale of other stocks, so at some point, AAPL going up will cause significant downward pressure on the rest of the market. Or on gold. Or on real estate. Etc…
As AAPL heads higher (and it will no doubt head higher), there will be new factors that cause “resistance” that are WAY beyond simplistic measures such as “P/E” or “EPS” (that do not consider AAPL already having a market cap that is a significant percentage of the overall market).
I agree with the EPS growth rate rationale. The part I did not get though was “So, with a P/E of 22” How did P/E go from 15.75 to 22?
Apple could by Intel, Amazon and IBM, at the same time.
Disney should be betrothed to Apple though.
And then fart out Adobe, in the process.
If it goes up 1.5 – 2.5 points a week till the fall quarter it’ll be good. if it jiggles down 4 points and jump up again to current highs every week I’m going to get pissed. Means people don’t have confidence in the stock. If it goes to $110 at the end of Sept, then the stock will be a good bet to cross over into rising value.
I’m with you 100% on your reasoning. There’s no need to get greedy. However I’m questioning my own judgment that Wall Street doesn’t have confidence in the stock because I may be arriving at the wrong conclusion. It’s possible they’re just cycling the stock up and down because they may using Apple as a bank to do quick trades in other stocks. As for Apple’s generally lower P/E than the rest of the tech industry, that to me indicates a lack of investor confidence in the company. I really hate always hearing that Apple stock is cheap because why should it be cheap yet fundamentally weaker stocks be expensive (warranted by a higher P/E). For what reason does Microsoft earn a higher P/E than Apple?
Wonder what Mikey’s company is worth now?
He’s selling it for a couple of weeks worth of food stamps and a pair of old navy socks.
Any day now…
Didn’t Walmart used to be on that list? I can still remember the day Apple passed MS, that was nice.
For those of you critical of a buy-and-hold strategy…….
NYAH, NYAH, NA, NA NA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It looks like AAPL is just 3% off its all-time high. Apple had better fire Tim Cook. :/
The only “problem” with holding AAPL so long is if I wanted to sell, which I don’t, the capital gains would be horrific. I need $3 per share increase before I’ve quadrupled my money.
I’m in the same boat, and none of mine is offshore!
Mine was all in SEP IRAs. I can trade, buy and sell options, etc. without incurring any taxes. When I pull it out it is ordinary income, but not until I do a distribution. Lately, when I have had excess deductions I have pulled out enough to use up the deductions at tax time, and put it in a Roth IRA.