Apple's Market Capitalization Hits Record $700 Billion

[cameronjpu]

Only all the laptops/desktops they build.

Exactly. And if Apple sold only those products, it would probably have a market value of about 100b instead of 700b. Those products add very little of Apple's total profit.

Anyway, I'm done giving you a free education. You have shown very clearly that not only do you not have a clue about how Apple works, you also seem very proud of your ignorance, so I'm going to leave you to it.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Bubbles happen to markets, not a single company.

Overvalued? Maybe, but the fact is that they're still growing in profits and revenue year over year. There is no inflated cell phone sales by upping screen sizes or every other manufacturer would have had the same results.

Why do you think there would be a drop in sales? In 2 years, iPhone 6 buyers will be ready to renew their contact and buy exactly what? Galaxy S7?

Their iPad sales have already peaked and are on a Year to Year decline.

The iPhone 6 had way too many features this year ranging from larger screens to thinner size to NFC. So Apple has pretty much boxed themselves in a corner regarding feature upgrades. In short they inflated their sales this year at the cost of future years.

 

[inkswamp]

Steve Jobs era: products > profits


Tim Cook era: vice versa

/Debbie Downer

There's always seems to be someone who can find the dark lining on the silver cloud.

----------

Their iPad sales have already peaked and are on a Year to Year decline.

The iPhone 6 had way too many features this year ranging from larger screens to thinner size to NFC. So Apple has pretty much boxed themselves in a corner regarding feature upgrades. In short they inflated their sales this year at the cost of future years.

Ah, so next year is when that annual prediction of the iPhone's decline will finally be true. Not all the other years it has been made (i.e., every year.) Got it. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[SirCheese]

Exactly. And if Apple sold only those products, it would probably have a market value of about 100b instead of 700b. Those products add very little of Apple's total profit.

Anyway, I'm done giving you a free education. You have shown very clearly that not only do you not have a clue about how Apple works, you also seem very proud of your ignorance, so I'm going to leave you to it.

It's cute that you think you gave me an "education".... when you really have done nothing of the sort. But keep thinking it. LOL

 

[ToroidalZeus]

[/COLOR]

Ah, so next year is when that annual prediction of the iPhone's decline will finally be true. Not all the other years it has been made (i.e., every year.) Got it. Thanks for clarifying.

Maybe. Lots of people are still locked into contracts on the plus upgrade cycle. At the same time Apple has to fuel year over year growth and with the amount of iPhone 6 sales this year that will be difficult.

The other years the smartphone market wasn't saturated like it is today; at least in the US.

 

[jm001]

696.92 = 700??



None of which have any effect on the company's financial performance, except for the iPhone thing... but I'm not sure where you're even getting that from. What a silly list.

The article did say that it reached 700 BEFORE going back down below the mark. So yeah they are listed at 696.92 but they did reach 700 before going back down.

 

[SmileyBlast!]

It's actually a **** analogy considering you need food to survive. A phone? No.

You need reliable transportation and skills to earn money to buy food.
You need to be able to get to work.
You need to have skills to get the work done once you are there.

Some people sharpen their skills and stay informed with their iPhones.

So by that logic the iPhone is more essential for them.
And if you're part of the iPhone ecosystem its even more important.

 

[steve333]

You think you're bad. I sold at $35. I've heard about people who invested $100,000 when it was in the high teens and have retired multimillionaires.

Oh, if only there was a time machine! Where are you Doc Emmett Brown?

I know, if I had more shares than that and sold back then I'd be hanging from a tree
The worst part is that I sold Apple to buy shares of VISX which promptly tanked.
Obviously I'm not the best investor in the world

 

[tentales]

The bigger the current stock price * shares compared to current earnings, the higher the expected growth in earnings is. This is were the guessing games reside. How big will that growth be?

My guess, Apple will plateau in 2015, it's FY Q1 report in January will be stellar, but I think saturation is creeping in.

That's theory. In practice, since the mid 1990s, earnings and stock price seem to have gotten a divorce in the case of many tech companies ;-). So much so that it all looks a lot more like gambling than anything else. Otherwise, Amazon's valuation (and many other tech firms), makes no sense at all.

No shoot! I was in Silicon Valley then, working for one of those exponential growth tech companies, by Dec'99 CNBC reporters were joking about the meaninglessness of P/E ratios. After the March 2000 crash most Mom&Pop investors got shaken out of the market and the real estate crash in '08 showed, how the big boys can manipulate the broader public into buying at the top.
It's worse than gambling, in gambling you know the odds!

When a company gets larger and saturates its market (this always happens eventually for a big company). The company future earnings grow just a bit faster than inflation. Then, a company becomes a blue chip and no longer a growth stock.

Yep, all the more amazing that Apple had it's 2nd coming after SJ returned and became a growth stock again after the 80s. Although, when you look at the max graph of AAPL https://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AAPL#{"range":"max","scale":"linear"}
the 80s is just a small blip and 2014 is a breakout. Given that graph, I cannot realistically see an extension of that growth angle.

This isn't bad per say, unless you want a high rate of return. Apple, will reach such a plateau eventually. Its a good thing. Much better than having collapsing earnings and an ever shrinking company. This has happened to many major companies in the past.

I think that plateau is around the corner.

 

[brianvictor7]

You can always find idiotic opinions on the web about anything. But most of the popular Apple sites have taken a stance not to link to click bait articles anymore - because it's no longer fun or funny. As a result, we see a lot less of click baiting now because the traffic draw no longer exists from sites like daringfireball and theloop.

And a good policy it is too.

 

[cameronjpu]

I know, if I had more shares than that and sold back then I'd be hanging from a tree
The worst part is that I sold Apple to buy shares of VISX which promptly tanked.
Obviously I'm not the best investor in the world

You and me should start a service where we publish our trades so that our adoring public and do the opposite

 

[StyxMaker]

How well would Apple do without Intel? They wouldn't.

----------

It's a PHONE... A phone doesn't dictate my quality of life, if it dictates yours, I feel sorry for you.

A phone does not dictate my quality of life, but modern electronics, including smartphones, have certainly improved my quality of life. Which was what the OP said. You're 'dictate' is a straw man.

 

[Rogifan]

Sure. SJ didn't give a hoot about the stock price. His ego was focused on products and Apple internals.
Mind you, I agree with the buyback program, all shareholders do

Of course Steve was able to do that because he had Tim there to focus on all the things he didn't care about.

----------

Brand recognition.

BS. If the products suck eventually people will stop buying them.

 

[tentales]

By the time 2 more years pass from now, consumers will not be on a two year contract renewal schedule anymore. They already aren't almost anywhere else in the world, and the speed with which the US providers have moved to make buyers feel the true price of their phone has been shocking.

I'm shocked how many iPhone 4/4S users I see out there even now, when most users ARE on a two year upgrade process. So many users say they don't want a bigger phone. That's why I'm highly confident that Apple will upgrade the guts of at least the 5 form factor. What better time to do that than the April/May timeframe, when Apple historically sees a plunge in revenue? Kill two birds with one stone - Apple will surely not abandon the users who agree with what Apple thought until last month - that 4" is plenty. Apple will give them a way to get modern CPU and other technologies, mark my words.

Music to my ears. I'm holding on to my $0 5C until the 2year term is up and then bye bye contracts. Everything after the iPhone 4 was "good enough" in that form factor and function. For me even the 4.7" iPhone is too big, but that's just me. I hope Apple don't abandon the 4" market or I'll be just buying a cheap battery in 2 years to extend the life of what I have. That an no more iOS upgrades to avoid slowdowns.

 

[JamesMike]

Finally get to that pre-split price of >$1000! Can't wait!

Imagine when a VR headset comes out and your phone is merely just a magic trackpad and backup screen.

I hope Apple is the first to market with a mass produced device. (Why I've always said an Apple TV is useless.

A split would be nice.

 

[tentales]

Well some people like me see it as indispensable. It would be a long hard cold turkey to have to live without something like this.

That's why people buy the new one every year. The iPhone 6 had one new feature. A bigger screen. I'm sure the 6S or 7 will be just as compelling.

They break first week sales records every single year.

Some of us have addictions, some of us don't. I upgraded my last few phones every 2-3 years, except when I was working in the telco industry between 2003-2006, I had like 10 phones, all SonyEricsson for "free", but that was so I could test them with various networks and switches.

 

[Keirasplace]

Market Cap doesn't really mean anything. It's just the total number of outstanding shares X the value of the share.

Some people say it's what the company is worth to investors. And this is wrong too... the company's worth is the total of all its assets at any point in time.

But whatever... if we're just talking numbers... I'm long BABA!!!

Only if you plan on liquidating your company tomorrow and your no longer a going concern . If you have 1b in assets but generate 50b in earnings a year, your telling me your ready you,d take the 1b and close shop? Better revise your notes before investing again.

 

[Foss]

Their iPad sales have already peaked and are on a Year to Year decline.

The iPhone 6 had way too many features this year ranging from larger screens to thinner size to NFC. So Apple has pretty much boxed themselves in a corner regarding feature upgrades. In short they inflated their sales this year at the cost of future years.

This is probably the least accurate prediction that I have ever read on this forum that has a guise of being informed. So you are saying that Apple should not have increased their features this year to not sacrifice sales next year? Perhaps this is the recommendation that Samsung was following. Are you Samsung's strategic advisor?

 

[thefourthpope]

Steve Jobs never would have let this happen!

hardy har

I'm sure that's popped up in the thread but I didn't bother to read through. Great news for apple. Hopefully they keep up the sensible investments in promising R&D or startups and general infrastructure.

 

[IJ Reilly]

No, that isn't right. What you are talking about is "book value". If you take a diamond ring, you may have $200 worth of gold and $500 worth of diamond but the diamond ring is worth $1,500. The majority of the value of Apple is not its assets, but its ability to sell iPhones, iPads and Macs to millions and millions of people.

Take a window cleaner. His assets are almost zero (a ladder and a bucket full of water, and if he hasn't repaid his parents the money he borrowed to buy the ladder, his assets are zero). The value of his business is the long lists of clients that he visits on a weekly tour and that pay him money every time he turns up.

No, what you are talking about is book value, or perhaps enterprise value. Unless your window washer is selling stock, then his business does not have a market value, which is defined as the current value of the shares.

 

[SmileyBlast!]

I know, if I had more shares than that and sold back then I'd be hanging from a tree
The worst part is that I sold Apple to buy shares of VISX which promptly tanked.
Obviously I'm not the best investor in the world

at sub $10 stock pricing was probably the single best investment opportunity of all time.

 

[dec.]

Brand recognition.

Didn't you say that you bought an iPad Air? Assuming that this is true: Did you buy it because of "brand recognition"?

 

[ksuyen]

All their recent fails:

iOS 8 problems
Yosemite problems
Not enough iPhones
Mac mini RAM nit being upgradeable
iCloud photo library
No Apple TV update
No new MacBook Air
No refresh on regular iMacs

The stock market is crazy.

Fortunately stock market does not read MacRumours

 

[Solomani]

Not bad for a company 'doomed to failure' after Steve Jobs died.

$700 billion market cap? Steve Jobs would never have let this happen!

 

[ksuyen]

$700 billion market cap? Steve Jobs would never have let this happen!

True, it's too high. I hope it stays 600ish, currently it's almost double than the second rank (Exxon).