Apple's March to Trillion Dollar Market Cap May Take a Bit Longer Based on Latest Share Count

[MacRumors]

Apple has filed its quarterly 10-Q form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, confirming that the company has a total of 4,829,926,000 outstanding shares on the stock market as of July 20, 2018. That's down from 4,915,138,000 shares three months earlier as Apple has continued to buy back its own stock.

Based on multiplying the latest total by Apple's closing stock price today of $201.50, the iPhone maker has a market cap of roughly $973 billion, making it ever so close to becoming a trillion dollar company.

The exact moment that Apple crosses the trillion dollar mark will be difficult to determine, as Apple continues to buy back and retire shares, reducing the number of outstanding shares. The total reflected in the 10-Q form is already nearly two weeks old, and has likely decreased over that time.

Everyone from investors to fanatical customers has been closely watching the AAPL ticker on the stock market to see if Apple will become the world's only and arguably first publicly traded company with a trillion dollar valuation. Tech rivals Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent company Alphabet are also in the race.

For now, the wait for $1,000,000,000,000 continues, but it doesn't look like it will take much longer for Apple to pull off the feat.

Article Link: Apple's March to Trillion Dollar Market Cap May Take a Bit Longer Based on Latest Share Count

 

[markfc]

Not bad for a business that started in a garage hey?

 

[macduke]

A billion dollars isn't cool, you know what's cool?

A trillion dollars.

 

[JoEw]

There was the world before the iPhone and the world after. No doubt a trillion will happen.

 

[terryzx]

Lowering prices would help a LOT!!!

 

[pashazade]

Lowering prices would help a LOT!!!

Er, no!

 

[sinsin07]

snip...to see if Apple will become the world's only and arguably first publicly traded company with a trillion dollar valuation. ...

Does this count?
“But Apple would not be the first publicly traded company in the world to surpass the trillion dollar mark.

Oil giant PetroChina (PTR) briefly topped a trillion dollar valuation in 2007 when its stock began trading in Shanghai, but shares quickly plunged afterward.”

 

[Scooz]

Ah, decimals fetish...

 

[Fall Under Cerulean Kites]

Lowering prices would help a LOT!!!

Apple comprises 18% of the smartphone market, but garners 87% of the smartphone industy profits. How would lowering prices help them to make more money?

 

[mejsric]

Thank you Tim!

 

[WildCowboy]

Does this count?
“But Apple would not be the first publicly traded company in the world to surpass the trillion dollar mark.

Oil giant PetroChina (PTR) briefly topped a trillion dollar valuation in 2007 when its stock began trading in Shanghai, but shares quickly plunged afterward.”

Not really. It was a small number of shares available on one exchange that only added up to a trillion dollar market cap if you extrapolated that share price to all of the company's shares. The vast majority of PTR's share never traded anywhere near that level.

 

[WannaGoMac]

It's because the iPhone X is a failure we can't have a 1 trillion dollar company!

Damn you notchy iPhone X!

 

[eagle33199]

Apple comprises 18% of the smartphone market, but garners 87% of the smartphone industy profits. How would lowering prices help them to make more money?

In theory, supply and demand. Lowering the price would increase the demand, meaning they could sell more phones. If you could sell 100 gizmos for a $10 profit each or 150 for an $8 each, which one makes you more money?

That said, there's a balance point. At that point, lowering the price doesn't get you enough additional sales to make up the lost profit per phone. If my above example resulted in only 125 gizmos for $8 profit each, then you're making the same amount as you would at 100/$10. Finding that sweet spot is hard.

I trust Apple has looked at price points long and hard. I'm sure they've looked at the number of sales they could expect at any given price point, and gotten as close to the sweet spot as they can. They probably factor in services sales as well (App Store sales, iTunes sales, etc) and have looked at the buying patterns of the "typical" person that buys phones at different price points.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Not really. It was a small number of shares available on one exchange that only added up to a trillion dollar market cap if you extrapolated that share price to all of the company's shares. The vast majority of PTR's share never traded anywhere near that level.

I’m sure we’ll also hear about Saudi Aramco’s $3 trillion valuation.

There was also the Dutch East India Company, the Mississippi Co. and the South Sea Co. back in the 17th century.

If someone wants to rely on one of these to try to take away from Apple’s accomplishment (if/when it happens) I wouldn’t bother arguing with them. If it’s that important to them to diminish Apple’s success, I’m fine with “The first publicly-listed US company to reach a trillion dollar valuation”.

It’s a nice milestone, but a trillion dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? $10 trillion

 

[Abazigal]

Onwards, Apple. All the way to the top.

 

[DotCom2]

Lowering prices would help a LOT!!!

Ummmmm, I think they know what they're doing.

 

[Moakesy]

Apple’s releases later this year will push them over the mark I reckon. Lots of new releases to excite the market and maybe, just maybe, something to surprise many of us.

Just gut feel, but I reckon something new is coming....

 

[jarman92]

Apple comprises 18% of the smartphone market, but garners 87% of the smartphone industy profits. How would lowering prices help them to make more money?

Also the price of an iPhone or amount of money Apple makes isn't the same as Apple's stock price/market cap. For example, Amazon makes very little money and the stock just keeps going up.

 

[PickUrPoison]

There was the world before the iPhone and the world after. No doubt a trillion will happen.

From what we know about the number of shares outstanding, it’ll happen at $207.05.

 

[Phil in ocala]

Thank you Tim!

_______
If you are not an Apple Stock Holder, this is of no consequence to you...none at all

 

[Solamar22]

Dr. Evil:...we hold the world ransom for... ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Number Two: Don't you think we should ask for *more* than a million dollars? A million dollars isn't exactly a lot of money these days. ...

Dr. Evil: Okay then, we hold the world ransom for...One... Hundred... BILLION DOLLARS

Number Two: Don't you think we should . . .

Dr. Evil: More? One TRILLION DOLLARS

 

[Billicus]

Apple, the iPhone maker

Kind of makes me wish for days gone by when this passing phrase is one of the best ways to refer to Apple as a company instead of "the Macintosh maker."

 

[chabig]

So the more shares they buy back, the less the company is worth. Hmmm...so if they were to buy back all of the shares, would the company be worth nothing?

 

[dantroline]

Not bad for a business that started in a garage hey?

A struggling company like this is due for a capital raising, no doubt.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Kind of makes me wish for days gone by when this passing phrase is one of the best ways to refer to Apple as a company instead of "the Macintosh maker."

Like it or not, Apple’s sold upwards of 1.5 billion iPhones. iPhones are what many know them for. Ten years ago, it would have been iPods.

As Jobs said when he dropped the word Computer from the name: “The Mac, iPod, Apple TV and iPhone. Only one of those is a computer. So we’re changing the name”.