Apple

Apple takes another step to world dominance
Apple takes another step to world dominance

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/01/05/apple-takes-another-step-to-world-dominance/

Apple has become the second company in the world worth more than $300 billion. Meanwhile, less formal estimates put Facebook at $50 billion.

It was only last May that Apple overtook Microsoft, with a market capitalization of $221 billion. That figure represents a company’s current stock price, multiplied by the number of stocks in the company. In effect it’s the paper value of the company and the amount it would theoretically cost to take it over completely. (In effect, somebody offering to buy the whole thing, or Apple stockholders all deciding spontaneously that they wanted to sell, would likely distort the stock price.)

The company hit a new milestone when stock markets opened for 2011: at a stock price of $329.60, it’s new valuation is $302.56 billion.

The only real target left — and bear in mind that this is simply paper value, rather than the hard cash of revenues and profits — is to overtake current number one Exxon Mobil at $368 billion, which would either mean the oil giant slipping, or Apple getting a hair over $400 a share. That’s about a 20% further rise, which is a bit of a stretch but could be possible if the company either has some great revenue figures, or if any of the big product announcements this year strike a chord with investors.