
Apple Now The Most Valuable Company In The World - sahillavingia
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/09/apple-exxon-valuable-company/
======
MrHobbes
The most valuable publicly traded company anyway. I am quite sure that Saudi
Aramco is more valuable than either Exxon or Apple.

With that said, it is perhaps unlikely that Apple will be able to maintain its
current advantage in the smartphone and tablet markets over the long-term.

On the other hand, at a P/E ratio of roughly 14 Apple does not exactly seem to
be overvalued at this point in time.

Something else to consider is their cash hoard. What exactly do they intend to
do with that $28.4 Billion dollars in cash? That is a mystery that I would
love to know the answer to.

Personally, if I were Apple, I would be supplying investors with a dividend at
this point in time. The fact that they are not indicates that they are either
stubborn or they believe they are still capable of significant growth.

Let's assume they believe they are still capable of significant growth. The
cynic in me doubts that this is the case - just because of the significant
amount of competitive pressure that they are facing. The optimist in me thinks
that it just may be possible for Apple to still expand.

Apple's history encourages the optimist in me. Apple is one company that,
historically, it has always been a serious mistake to count out. However, how
much of this amazing resiliency depends on Apple having Steve Jobs. Well...
That's another wildcard.

I just don't know. It should be a very interesting next decade for Apple
customers, investors, and competitors.

 _This post does not constitute investment advice._

~~~
jmreid
Apple has about $76 billion in cash after the last quarter. Not sure where you
got $28.4 billion from.

Also, I'm not sure why you say that Apple is unlikely to maintain it's
advantage in the smartphone and tablet industry. I'd say they are very likely
to maintain an advantage, especially when it comes to profits. No other
manufacture has an entire ecosystem in place for it's customers quite like the
way Apple does (digital stores, iCloud, Retail stores, etc).

~~~
MrHobbes
I understand why you may be confused, because this was pretty poorly reported
recently and I was not completely specific in my post.

Some Miscellaneous References:

[http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL&fstype=ii](http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL&fstype=ii)

<http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=AAPL+Key+Statistics>

[http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/07/19Apple-Reports-
Thir...](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/07/19Apple-Reports-Third-
Quarter-Results.html)

Apple does not have 76 billion in cash. It has 76 billion in cash, cash-
equivalents, and long-term marketable securities. There is a significant
difference.

For clarification, please see here:

[http://seekingalpha.com/article/258268-debunking-the-
myths-o...](http://seekingalpha.com/article/258268-debunking-the-myths-of-
apple-s-liquid-assets)

 _This post does not constitute investment advice._

~~~
jmreid
Thanks for the clarification. I've just never heard anyone be as specific
about it as you, and I appreciate it. Almost everyone (non-financial sites and
reports) considers it all "cash" and reports it as such.

~~~
joshuamerrill
Yes, the $76 billion includes $47.7 billion of long term investments, and
possibly in there are the value of the supplier agreements that Apple is so
famous for.

On the other hand... potato, po-tah-to?

While I'm acutely aware of the vast difference between $28 billion and $76
billion, can anyone name the largest acquisition Apple has ever completed?

More importantly, can anyone recall the amount?

Apple is one of the most acquisition-averse large companies I've ever seen.
What they will do with $28 billion--let alone $76 billion--is beyond me.

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wiredfool
How hard would it be for them to run a graph of the market cap of APPL and XOM
throughout the day, rather than the related, but misleading %change throughout
the day, which makes it look like they started equal and diverged from there.

I know that it's not something that's screen capturable with broswing to
finance.google, but a little effort people.

~~~
Perceval
Here's a 5-year chart of market caps for Apple, Exxon-Mobil, and Microsoft:
[http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap#zoom=5&comp...](http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap#zoom=5&compCos=XOM,MSFT)

~~~
kamechan
even better if you run the chart back to 2002, when apple was hurting.

[http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap#zoom=&compC...](http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap#zoom=&compCos=XOM,MSFT&startDate=9/30/2002&endDate=8/9/2011)

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kennystone
What's amazing is that Apple still managed to grow its profit 125% year over
year last quarter. A huge company, hugely profitable, and still hugely
growing.

~~~
sliverstorm
I personally figure it's the Apple Tax, aka very comfortable profit margins,
plus the short life cycle of technology.

~~~
sliverstorm
Yeah, you guys are probably right. Apple's profit margins probably don't have
much to do with their profitability.

~~~
Perceval
Unless the margins have grown dramatically, they are unlikely to accounts for
Apple's growth this past year. If the margins, high as they are, remain the
same, the growth comes from expanding the number of customers they have.

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onemoreact
Wait, Exxon has a P/E of 8.86 that's rediculusly for such a stable company
IMO. Am I missing something obvious or is it a great buy right now?

~~~
glhaynes
Stable, non-growth companies typically have much lower P/Es. There's
absolutely no chance that Exxon will double in revenue in the next couple of
years; that's entirely possible for Apple.

~~~
rokhayakebe
I agree. Most people are already Exxon customers. Most people aren't Apple
customers.

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thought_alarm
Next on the agenda for Apple? Purchase Michael Dell.

~~~
A-K
Almost fifteen years later, and that snarky statement is still the first thing
I think of when someone mentions Michael Dell: [http://news.cnet.com/Dell-
Apple-should-close-shop/2100-1001_...](http://news.cnet.com/Dell-Apple-should-
close-shop/2100-1001_3-203937.html)

Can't imagine how awkward a meeting between Jobs and Dell would be--at least
for Dell.

~~~
rbanffy
I think both would have a good laugh. Dell was wrong, Jobs not only saved
Apple but turned it into one of the largest companies in the planet.

Being slightly wrong is boring. Being so completely wrong is fun.

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weston
They're actually swapping places back and forth, since the market hasn't
closed yet (as of 2:54 EST).

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BlackJack
One day people will learn that price != value. Apple is definitely one of the
most valuable companies in the world, but you can't say it's the most valuable
because it has the largest market cap - not unless you believe in efficient
market theory, but that's a debate for another day :)

~~~
DevX101
Price is the best metric I've ever seen for value. Sure emotion, hype and
misinformation can make price diverge from value for a time, but it inevitably
converges to value.

You have something better?

~~~
BlackJack
Price is the best metric, but a metric is a standard for measurement, not an
accurate measurement. Apple went from $392 a share on April 4th to as low as
$353 just before yesterday's close. Are you telling me that apple lost $36
billion in value over a period of 5 days, or that it gained $5 billion in
value today?

The market is a voting machine in the short term and a weighing machine in the
long run. Saying that Apple is now the world's most valuable company is a
stupid statement because it's based entirely on today's market cap.

~~~
Retric
Most people understand that Stock Price relates to current assets AND expected
future returns. What most people miss, is that the value of future returns
vary's based on the price of other investments. Conciser if 3 year US treasury
bonds had a yield of 17% then the value of most stocks would tank as their
future earnings become less valuable today.

So, when the market crashed the value of Apple stock drops even if their
future earnings are unaffected.

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SODaniel
Sensational headline now most sensational in the world! Marketwatch.com
already listed in HN but with less sensational headline and more accurate
content.

