Apple Surpasses Saudi Aramco To Become World's Most Valuable Company (cnbc.com) 36
Apple rode the company's strong earnings report to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing the state oil giant Saudi Aramco at Friday's market close. CNBC reports: Apple shares closed up 10.47% Friday, giving it a market valuation of $1.84 trillion. Saudi Aramco, which had been the most valuable publicly listed company since its market debut last year, now trails at $1.76 trillion as of its last close. Apple's strong fiscal third quarter earnings, released Thursday, boosted its stock, as investors rallied behind the company's 11% year-over-year growth. Apple also announced a 4-for-1 stock split. The company has recovered from its pandemic low-point in March. Shares are up more than 44% this year.
After this past week (Score:3, Insightful)
After this past week's anti-trust hearing, Apple might soon becomes the 5 most valuable companies in the world
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
This.
MS was way more dominant of its market than any of these are. Not that they shouldn't be regulated or broken up, I think they all have become way too powerful.
But if it didn't happen for MS, despite clear evidence not only of monopoly power but also abuse of that, then what makes anyone think it'll happen now?
Re: (Score:2)
But if it didn't happen for MS, despite clear evidence not only of monopoly power but also abuse of that, then what makes anyone think it'll happen now?
Microsoft made Windows the worst spyware in the world. One might suspect that they did this as a secret condition of not being broken up into very small pieces, and that they're now a spying apparatus for the US government. Apple might refuse to go down the same road.
Oil vs computers (Score:2)
Well, these 2 companies - Apple and Aramco - are in 2 sectors that have been differently impacted by the China virus. Expect that gap to widen, due to both newer geopolitical realities, as well as the results of much of the world's population having to work remotely.
Oil had tanked to historic lows, particularly during the Russo-Saudi price war a few months ago, and it was only US intervention (due to our interest in saving our oil companies from going under) that stopped it and stabilized oil prices - no
Our bodily needs are satisfied.... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In fact if you just look at screens all day and dont move your calorific needs go down - even your bodily needs can be partially satisfied by screens
That's why (Score:2)
That's why Apple et. al., the FAANG gang, can do whatever they want. Congressional hearings are just theater. I''d be very surprised if any substantial regulation happened.
So... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
ChromeOS is a toy. OK if all you do is web surfing, useless for real work.
Re: (Score:2)
That's b'cos most ChromeBooks are minimally configured notebooks. But what would happen if you took a fully featured laptop (i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB storage) and then loaded it up w/ ChromeOS? You'd do just fine.
Windows 10 is fast getting more and more unusable. My laptop has 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage, and it still crawls while logging in and out. Whenever Microsoft switches to a subscription based Windows 365, I plan to either get a new Macbook, or format that laptop and load it up w/ ChromeOS
Re: (Score:2)
I believe every pro hardcore Apple user disagrees.
Where is a 17" or bigger laptop with +20h runtime and decent amount of ports and true function keys (add the silly touch stripe on top if you really must)?
iPhone to thin, to much plastic, to bad antennas.
Cheating with Wifi and cellular network strength all the time. Displaying 5 of 5 when it is actually 3 of 5 or worth.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not a question of how today's Apple products compare with the past but rather how they would compare with alternatives today under different leadership.
And yes, a failed line of business isn't generally big enough to keep failing in, whatever that means, but it would be absurd to suggest commercial rack computing isn't big enough to be interesting. Plenty of companies engineer their own custom solutions so they can "justify the engineering time" for their needs alone.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not for long (Score:2)
Don't worry, it's not going to last.
They plan on fixing this high value with Big Sur, their next signal that they're effectively bowing out of the computer market.
P/E is 33 - Just a bubble (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Apple is in year 2 of a 5 year plan to move most engineering to Hyderabad. That is massive cost savings. Will easily triple profits.
Re: (Score:2)
Apple is in year 2 of a 5 year plan to move most engineering to Hyderabad. That is massive cost savings. Will easily triple profits.
So you're saying I should be shorting Apple in say 3 years?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No . HQ stays in Cupertino as Apple is a marketing led company not an engineering led company. Engineering is a second class citizen at Apple.
Re: (Score:2)
About half the cost of an iPhone is profit. To triple profits they'd have to double the sale price without increasing any production costs and still maintain the same number of buyers.
They need a new class of product equal to iPhones to justify this level.
Re: (Score:2)
They will be reducing production cost. The parts are only 100 dollars. Most of the cost is software dev costs.
Re: (Score:2)
Talking about the stock price not being an earned one, the article compares with ARAMCO. For many buyers of ARAMCO stock the alternative was losing their head. See for instance https://oilprice.com/Energy/En... [oilprice.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Their computers will never be a significant money maker compared to iPhones. Even if they had 100% market share, computers are relatively low volume. They also have lower profits than phones where Apple is routinely making more than 50% per phone.
To justify this kind of valuation, you need another iPhone level product - one that has a potential market of half the world's population or more.
Re: (Score:2)
Nothing to see here (Score:2)
The stock market has been on a wild ride during the pandemic, and the answer seems to lie in the reality that investors have nowhere to park their money and earn any type of reasonable return. Thus, we have the current stock market bubble. As to Saudi Aramco temporarily not being the most valuable company . . . [shrug]. Apple's financial health is much more transparent than Aramco's, and it might be a while before oil rebounds, if ever. Renewables and electric vehicles are winning the long race, and this wi