Kevin Bostic
Even after a quarter widely panned on Wall Street as "flat" or "disappointing," Apple holds the top spot among the most profitable U.S. companies by a significant margin.
The $13.1 billion in profit Apple posted for the first quarter of 2013 is the most profitable quarter for a tech company in history, just edging out the record $13.06 billion set in the first quarter of 2013 — also by Apple.
A comparison of Apple's record quarter to those of the other most profitable companies in the United States shows Apple head and shoulders above its American peers. Apple's $13.1 billion in profit is 31 percent more than the $10 billion of its closest competitor, oil giant ExxonMobil, which briefly surpassed Apple in market cap following investors' negative reactions to the most recent quarter.
As statistics portal Statista points out, the only companies to ever post a higher quarterly profit are ExxonMobil and Russian energy giant Gazprom, which posted $16.2 billion in profit for the first quarter of 2011.
Apple, once targeted for $1,000 per share, currently sits 34.7 percent below its all-time high of $700 per share. Meanwhile, it earned $100 million more in the first quarter than firms Wells Fargo, Proctor & Gamble, and General Electric combined.
In terms of technology companies, Apple earned more than twice the $6.4 billion of its nearest competitor, Redmond software giant Microsoft. Add in the $5.8 billion earned by IBM, and Apple still beats the total by nearly a billion dollars.
Apple's team remains upbeat on the company's future, despite the negative outlook of some investors. CEO Tim Cook expressed confidence in the firm's product pipeline, saying during the quarterly conference call that "we continue to focus on innovation and making the best products in the world."
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
50 Comments
Apple's Q4 11 through Q4 12 would be in the top 6 or 7 spots. ;) But then, I suppose XOM would be similar too. The stock market is subject to the whims of investors, which are largely irrational.
This means only one thing...
Apple is DOOOMEDDD!
Now that investors seem to have exhausted the panic-selling frenzy that they have talked themselves into (with no small assist from stock manipulators), some calm and common sense might finally creep into the investing scene and Apple's stock will start inching back up to more realistic levels. If there are any professional fund managers in this group of panic sellers, they should be fired.
What happened with the SEC looking into the huge drop?
Problem is the massive profits already in their market cap. Growth is slowing to flat next quarter or down if you run apples guidance. So great quarter but as second largest market cap double Microsoft still it is already priced in