Posted on 07/29/2010 8:02:28 PM PDT by Swordmaker
"Better watch your back Exxon Mobil," Paul R. La Monica reports for CNNMoney. "No, I'm not talking about tough competition for the oil giant from rivals like Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhilips."
"Exxon Mobil, which is currently the most valuable company in the U.S. with a market capitalization of $286 billion, has to listen for the footsteps of Apple," La Monica reports. "Of course, Apple doesn't compete with Exxon Mobil -- although given time I'm sure that someone will find a way to create an app that turns your iPhone into an oil rig."
"But Apple now is the second most valuable company in the land. It has passed Microsoft and Wal-Mart this year and now trails Exxon Mobil's market value by only about $50 billion," La Monica reports. "That may sound like a whopping gap but it really isn't -- especially given how well Apple has done compared to Exxon Mobil lately.
Consider this: At the start of the year, Apple's market value was nearly $125 billion lower than Exxon Mobil's."
"Apple shares currently trade at about $260. Many analysts think that a price of $300, a 15% jump from here, is reasonable given that Apple's got strong sales and earnings momentum on its side," La Monica reports. "If that happened, all it would take is for Exxon Mobil's stock to fall about 5% from current levels for Apple to leap ahead of it in market value."
La Monica reports, "That also seems like a rational proposition since it's tough to imagine oil prices heading substantially higher in the near future as the economic recovery appears to be stalling."
Full article here.
Market share does not justify this valuation. Is Al Gore still on the Board at Apple?
My sense is that this doesn't end well.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Apple Magic Trackpad: The Beginning of the End for Mac OS X
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very interesting article
Too bad, they don’t actually make their gadgets here.
Basically, Apple is a huge info-mercial.
“Consider this: At the start of the year, Apple’s market value was nearly $125 billion lower than Exxon Mobil’s.”
Easy come easy go. One video of an exploding laptop and you lose $50 Billion
They dominate the smartphone market. And many people don't realize "iPod" is actually a brand name and not a synonym for "MP3 player".
Way back yonder, when personal computers were determined to be an emerging market, lots of folks jumped into the water, including
Exxon. In the rush to office automation and the paperless society Exxon, AT&T, Tandy Corp (Previously a leather craft house), Xerox, Texas Instruments and several others made personal computers. So, at one time Apple and Exxon were competitors.
Nobody makes their gadgets here.
First, you have to have the video... so far, Apple has weathered AntennaGate... and posted record revenues and record profits in a quarter that is traditionally its lowest grossing quarter... and is growing higher.
It is... very insightful. I posted it for the Mac Ping List.
Thanks for the heads up, Seton.
Apple is a very successful example of American capitalism, coupled with outstanding technical creativity. Capitalism has a pretty good name on this forum, I've heard. They're doing a great job of returning value on their stockholders' investment. That's also considered good here.
Almost no major electronics manufacturer can afford to assemble hardware product stateside. At least Apple does their designs stateside (they're not outsourcing the majority of their engineering, like many other high-tech firms).
So you don't like Apple, or their products? Fine, don't buy 'em. Done. Wasn't that easy?
Apple also makes excellent desk top and laptop computers. Mac computer sales for the last quarter were up 33%. And the iPad has been a huge success. And the iPod touch is still selling very well.
All true. I speak not a single word against Apple. I merely suggest that fossil fuels may have more lasting value than consumer electronics, which can fall before any new discovery.
But Tandy was making electronics long before they got into the computer business, through their Radio Shack subsidiary.
I hope there is no bashing here on this thread.
Well, you do need the OS X as the operating system though.
Plus the small Mac Mini tower has been doing well in sales.
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