Neil Hughes
Apple stock is currently trading at its all-time highest levels, putting the company at its highest-ever market capitalization level of more than $659 billion Thursday morning [updated].
Update: When the market opened Thursday morning, shares of Apple were up more than 1 percent, which was enough to propel the company to a new all-time high for market capitalization above $659 billion. Shares of Apple had closed at $111.25 on Wednesday, which was also an all-time closing high.
Apple's previous all-time high market cap of $658 billion was reached in September of 2012, but that was eclipsed Thursday morning.
The company's market cap as of Wednesday was north of $652 billion, which put Apple within spitting distance of the record. The previous high was reached in September of 2012, when Apple's total value was nearly $658 billion.
In comparison, Microsoft has a current market cap of $402 billion, while Google is at $375 billion, and the market values Amazon at $144 billion.
Thursday also marks the day that Apple will pay out a quarterly dividend of 47 cents per share. The dividend will be awarded to shareholders of record as of market closing on Monday, Nov. 10.
Shares of Apple fluctuated around the $100 mark until mid-October when they began to rise after the company reported a record September quarter, earning $8.5 billion in profit on sales of 39 million iPhones and 5.5 million Macs. Investors are bullish on demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and also have high hopes for the debut of the new Apple Watch in early 2015.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
88 Comments
Apple is doomed! Sell, sell, sell! /s
“Apple stock is currently trading at its all-time highest levels, putting the company very close to reaching its highest-ever market capitalization level of nearly $658 billion."
I prefer to think of it as $.658 Trillion. Sounds better.
Is market cap calculated based on the number of outstanding shares? If so, what do you do about all the shares Apple bought back? If market cap is only calculated based on the number of shares in Nasdaq, then it really means nothing to Apple since Apple can't touch this money. This money is there for the transfer of stocks between gamblers. Once a company goes past their IPO, all the money in the stock market belongs to the people who bought it. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is what my father-in-law told me (retire broker of 60 years when investment actually meant investing in a company).
Is market cap calculated based on the number of outstanding shares? If so, what do you do about all the shares Apple bought back? If market cap is only calculated based on the number of shares in Nasdaq, then it really means nothing to Apple since Apple can't touch this money. This money is there for the transfer of stocks between gamblers. Once a company goes past their IPO, all the money in the stock market belongs to the people who bought it. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is what my father-in-law told me (retire broker of 60 years when investment actually meant investing in a company).
Bottom line, it means that Apple’s investors have been richly rewarded for their faith in the company. That’s all anybody cares about anyway other than bragging rights. My IRA thinks so and so do I.
Apple's been killing it. Fandroid Trolls have been hiding under their rocks. All is well.