By George Stahl
Apple Inc. shares closed Tuesday at $122.02, giving the maker of
iPhones and iPads a market value of more than $700 billion--the
first U.S. company to close above that mark.
The Cupertino, Calif., company had crossed the $700 billion mark
in November and last week but had not closed at that level.
Tuesday's close valued Apple at $710.7 billion.
Market value is a commonly used term among investors to measure
how much a company is worth. It is determined by multiplying the
company's shares outstanding by its stock price. Apple's market
value--or market capitalization, as it is also known as--is based
on the company's 5.82 billion shares outstanding.
Apple's market value is nearly double each of the next three
largest companies on the S&P 500 index. Exxon Mobil Corp. is
second to Apple with a market cap of about $385 billion; Berkshire
Hathaway Inc., with its two classes of stock, is third at $370
billion; and Microsoft Corp. is fourth at $349 billion, according
to FactSet.
Apple's mark comes nearly two weeks after the company reported
earnings of $18 billion on revenue of $74.6 billion during the
holiday quarter. It also comes more than eight years after former
Chief Executive Steve Jobs first showed off the iPhone in January
2007. At that time, Apple had a market value of $76 billion.
Write to George Stahl at george.stahl@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Apple, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0378331005
Access Investor Kit for Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0846701086
Access Investor Kit for Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0846707026
Access Investor Kit for Exxon Mobil Corporation
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US30231G1022
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires