Google Surpasses Apple as World's Most Valuable Company

[Rogifan]

Google revenue still 90% ads, yet Apple's the one trick pony doomed for being too reliant on iPhone.

Google's "other bets" is just a money pit but I guess everyone would just call that innovation.

Btw, for FY2015 Apple's YOY revenue and earnings growth was greater than Google's.

 

[dannys1]

iPad Pro should have ran a tweaked version of OS X geared for touch.

These are all things people seem to agree on,

No. No they really are not.

 

[Rogifan]

Remember, the Street doesn't care about profits. They care about profit growth. It looks like Apple is a one-trick pony in a declining industry, while Alphabet is pushing forward. It might be time for Apple to use some of that cash to make a big acquisition. That would be better than using it for more stock buybacks, which will just reinforce the image that Apple is a declining business.

For FY2015 Apple's YOY earnings growth was greater than Google's. Apple's being punished right now because FY Q1 and Q2 2015 were TOO good and almost impossible to replicate. But still Apple's profit in ONE QUARTER (FY Q1 2016) was almost equal to Google's profit for an ENTIRE YEAR (FY 2015).

True that that's why, but Apple's P/E is less than 11, while Alphabet's is 35. If Apple just maintained their current profits they'd still be way ahead of Google for a long time. Apple is clearly undervalued while Google has a lot of optimism and trend-betting factored into its price.

It's all about sentiment and narrative. Wall Street loves so-called "services" companies and companies with little exposure to China right now. Kind of ironic considering a few years ago Wall Street was concerned because Apple wasn't penetrating enough into China. Now having lots of business in China is a bad thing.

 

[BillyMatt87]

That's kind of your problem. Go use Google Glass, Play Store, Nexus 7/Bamboo Stylus and Chromebook Pixel instead. Pathetic copies of Apple products that's all Google is good for. Now they've even copied Apple Maps.

The Apple Watch is an overpriced and golfed iPhone accessory that's not exactly taking the world by storm in the same way that the iPod, iPhone and iPad have. Also Apple seems to focus more on marketing it as a fashion accessory and status symbol rather which would've definitely pissed off Steve Jobs.

Apple Music is a complete 'me-too' product. I just want Apple to make good music playing software again for OS X and iOS, I couldn't less about the streaming service they try to ram down our throats.

The iPad Pro is nothing special. Just an even bigger iPad with the same blown-up iPhone interface as its smaller counterparts. The Apple Pencil is overpriced and clunky looking and betrays Jobs's stance on styluses.

 

[brendu]

That oil companies are powering the world is a choice, not a necessity. Unfortunately, lobbying goes al long way. If we really wanted to address global warming, we could. But we won't until it's too late: the human race can create something wonderful as an iPhone, but at the same time destroys the world he's living in.

The only way to power the earth without fossil fuels is with a lot of nuclear power. Are you okay with that? Because even with renewables being as widespread and utilized as possible they couldn't cover the massive power demands of humanity. If you don't want fossil fuels you better be okay with nuclear. It's one or the other.

 

[ghost187]

IF you had the power to own one of these companies and take them private, which one would it be?

I think the answer to this question would be overwhelmingly one sided.

 

[Michael Goff]

iOS is at best, a heavily stripped down version of OS X, geared for touch.

When the full version of Photoshop is available for the iPad Pro, then we'll talk more.

Some of the Adobe CC apps (photoshop, illustrator, etc) switch to "Touch Optimized" UI's when I have the SP3 in tablet mode. I would like to be able to run the full OSX apps, natively in a tablet form factor. Along with full access to the filesystem, and native file sharing support (afp, cifs, etc..) to get files there. Being able to plug in and work directly off external drives would be nice also.

Those programs wouldn't run on ARM right now.

I think the point he was trying to make was that the same applications that run on OSx, are not available for the iPad Pro, or iOS. there are several "pro" level applications, that would be very nice to be able to run on a form factor like the iPad Pro, but do not exist in iOS land, Or are severely crippled and scaled down.

Could you imagine being able to run full photoshop on the iPad Pro? Or full Lightroom? Thats what some people are wanting out of something claiming to be "pro". not just the same ipad apps they've already been running on iOS

And how would they run on an iPad Pro running OS X? A9X isn't the same architecture as a Mac. It wouldn't run any of the apps.

 

[dba415]

Lol ... with almost 90% of the profits on iOS , Android surely is the clear winner .... for crappy cheap devices

Sorry buddy. Google did not intend to directly profit off of Android. The primary goal of Android is to make Google's ecosystem ubiquitous in the landscape, and Android has been a resounding success in that regard. Market share is what Google wanted and that's what it got. There's a reason Google gave away Android for free. The company can indirectly profit off of Android by selling ads and user information. Google sits on the largest mountain of consumer behavior/habits/insights ever.

 

[luxetlibertas]

Strange, Apple's "bad" quarter saw an EPS growth of $3.28 / $3.06 = +7.2%. Google: $7.06 / $6.79 = +4% (GAAP results, not fantasy results). And Google apparently hit the ball out of the park...
Of course, Google grows more steadily than Apple, which expects a weaker patch in the coming quarter(s).

 

[dannys1]

Alphabet is seen as the true innovator, and Android the clear winner in mobile.

Making 90% of your profits from ad's on the internet is being a "true innovator" ??

 

[brendu]

First off the shareholders will riot if this weak stock price continues.
Stockholders vote for the board of directors.
The board of directors can fire Tim Cook.

Second most of the elite level executives are paid mostly from stock rewards. If the stock is weak it can hurt their compensation big time. We are talking about tens of millions of dollars. Many other employees have stock options. If your stock is weak eventually you will lose employee talent.

Third many of the biggest Apple fans are Apple shareholders. No doubt if they lose tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock loses that will effect their buying habbits. Personally I have held off of buying several Apple products because the stock price has been so weak the last 6 months.

Firing Tim Cook would be almost as idiotic as it was to fire Steve back in the day. Just because a companies record breaking quarters dont continue doesn't mean you ******* one of the most successful CEO's in the history of the industry. When Apple is being beat by dell, hp, and Asus people can get upset.

 

[Stella]

Google's "other bets" is just a money pit but I guess everyone would just call that innovation.

I would call it Research and Development, in part. Something every company should be doing in order to help future survival.

Apple do a lot of RnD, much of which never sees the light of day.

Only different, Google is more open about what they are doing, Apple are not.

 

[Studioman]

Google shares what they're working on, Apple doesn't. Look at Google Glass - was that a successful product? No. If Apple had a product that flopped like that, there would be talk in this forum of firing Tim Cook.

 

[Rogifan]

That's the difference between a blue chip and a speculative play. Apple is priced as a stock that will grow slowly, make lots of money, and offer a dividend. Alphabet is priced as a stock that will grow rapidly and continually innovate until their profits match their stock valuation. Alphabet revenue was up 18%, whereas Apple revenue was up 1.7% this quarter. It fits...

Except that Apple's comparison is a bit unfair considering last years holiday quarter was absolutely massive. How many companies do $75B in revenue and $18B in profit in one quarter? And Apple's done it two years in a row. Apple is basically a victim of its own success.

 

[BillyMatt87]

First off the shareholders will riot if this weak stock price continues.
Stockholders vote for the board of directors.
The board of directors can fire Tim Cook.

Second most of the elite level executives are paid mostly from stock rewards. If the stock is weak it can hurt their compensation big time. We are talking about tens of millions of dollars. Many other employees have stock options. If your stock is weak eventually you will lose employee talent.

Third many of the biggest Apple fans are Apple shareholders. No doubt if they lose tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock loses that will effect their buying habbits. Personally I have held off of buying several Apple products because the stock price has been so weak the last 6 months.

An ideal situation would be:

- The board fires Tim Cook, I think Apple needs someone who has the same level of vision, passion and energy the Jobs brought to the table. Tim Cook is more of your ordinary bottom line CEO who pretends to act like he cares about the products, but really it's just about the money. You could always clearly tell how genuinely passionate Jobs was when he took the stage. We need that again.

- Angela Ahrendtz is fired and Ron Johnson returns to helm Apple retail.

- Craig Federighi is demoted (he's too likable to be fired but too inexperienced to be the software VP), Scott Forstall returns and Jony Ive and his team go back to only designing hardware again.

- Eddy Cue is fired and hopefully that will put an end to the whole Apple Music/Beats fiasco.

 

[Gudi]

The Google Pixel C Review

The pinch to zoom implementation on Android has always been quite poor, with the zooming not tracking well with the user’s actual pinching motion. In this case, the problem is also that the zoom animation just has an incredibly low frame rate at times, to the point where it’s like watching a slide show. It’s honestly shocking to see these issues on a device designed by Google running software designed by Google.

I'm not even sure if Google software is any better than Microsoft.

 

[diipii]

Google's parent company, Alphabet, is encroaching on Apple's status as the most valuable company in the world, reports CNN. While Apple is currently on top, a surge in Alphabet shares today gave it a market valuation of $533.4 billion, briefly surpassing Apple's valuation of $532.7 billion on a 1 percent stock drop.

Alphabet shares dropped shortly after, leaving Apple at a higher valuation, but the numbers could shift again tomorrow following Alphabet's first financial earnings report this afternoon. Alphabet is expected to announce overall revenue growth of close to 15 percent with a 20 percent increase in earnings per share.

Over the course of the last several months, Apple shares have fallen steadily, dropping its peak valuation of $740 billion to ~$540 billion. Despite record earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2016, with revenue of $75.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $18.4 billion, Apple has not bounced back from rumors that the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s are not selling well and concerns that the company has reached "peak iPhone" with no replacement product on the horizon.

Apple is in for a rough second quarter as the company is expected to announce its first ever decline in iPhone sales and its first year-over-year revenue drop in thirteen years. Currency headwinds caused by a strong U.S. dollar are costing Apple a significant percent of its earnings compared to the year-ago quarter.

Update 1:05 PM: Alphabet is up another 8 percent in after hours trading following a strong earnings report, meaning Alphabet will almost certainly open trading tomorrow at a higher valuation than Apple.

Article Link: Google Briefly Surpasses Apple as World's Most Valuable Company

The pin has entered the bubble.

 

[Studioman]

Apple Watch.[doublepost=1454362216][/doublepost]I heard Cupertino is secretly working on touch-based version of OS X code name iOS.

Let's see, Doesn't Google have a watch platform that they rushed to beat Apple to market and got crushed by Apple Watch on release? Doesn't Google have a secret touch based version of Windows XP code name Android?

 

[HenryDJP]

Agreed. They themselves forget that if they do this instead of being money-greedy, much more people will want to purchase those products instead of looking for alternatives.

If so many people were looking for alternatives Apple wouldn't be the most valuable company in the world. Maybe they feel what they are putting out is enough. Obviously it's selling. Does that mean I don't wish for more feature-rich products from them? No. But what it does mean is what Apple is currently doing is not causing people to look for alternatives.

 

[thekeyring]

Apple Watch.[doublepost=1454362216][/doublepost]I heard Cupertino is secretly working on touch-based version of OS X code name iOS.

We don't know how well it sold.

 

[Apple Corps]

How is the number one selling smart watch considered a flop?

Because a "number one selling" watch may not amount to much for Apple.

 

[AFEPPL]

It's just been on the UK news, Alphabet is the worlds largest company.

 

[cdm283813]

Macbook should have had two USB ports.
iPad Pro should have ran a tweaked version of OS X geared for touch.
iMac 4K should have came with an SSD.
Apple TV should have had 4K compatibility for use with home videos shot on iPhone 6S.
iPad Pro should have 128GB base storage, and have the 32GB model only sold as an enterprise model.

These are all things people seem to agree on, and there isn't much of an argument for Apple to have done this. Just start finishing your products before you release them Apple...

And even if you do all that it still won't be enough. All your doing is rehashing old products that people already have. There needs to be a new ground breaking product that no one has introduced to the market. Time for Apple to invent something to make me throw money at the screen. Otherwise people will get tired of the same old song and dance each product refresh.
That's why I think VR is critical but the other part tells me that OS X sucks when it comes to gaming. Apple should just make a high powered gaming/content console from scratch that is VR ready from the start. Heck; make it double as a home computer with it's own App ecosystem. Do something out of the ordinary to get people talking. Adding USB ports is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Rogifan]

Btw, Apple's free cash flow for CQ4 2015 was $23B; Google's was $4B. Apple's valuation isn't what it is because of fundamentals it's because of sentiment.

It's just been on the UK news, Alphabet is the worlds largest company.

And in a few hours all anyone will be talking about are the Iowa caucus results.

 

[JayMBP]

I don't see GOOG being more valuable than AAPL a problem, but as a heavy Apple user, I think you can tell how Apple has lost its edge under Cook's guidance given today's fact. He is too focused on numbers and forgot what actually made Apple, well... Apple.

Apple under Jobs was about the experience one'd get from Apple products, and I think that's what Apple should get back to.

iPhones, iPads, Facetime, Retina, Thunderbolt... etc all made up to provide user an amazing experience by going all Apple.

No we have *meh* products like Apple Pencil, Apple Music, 16GB iPhones with 4k video capability, 5400RPM HDD 4k iMac... so on. This is no longer Apple.

It used to be that, even the lowest tier of Apple products would provide a great experience while paying extra for enhancement/needs.

Not we have an ok experience for the bottom tier while being FORCED to buy higher tiers because the bottom one simply doesn't make any sense whatsoever.