New Delhi: Apple is more valuable than it had ever been in the eyes of investors. Its latest market cap has crossed a record-breaking $700 billion.
Apple's Shares rose 1.9 per cent to close at $122.02 on Tuesday, lifting Apple's market value to $710 billion, and making it the first company to hit the $700 billion milestone.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference, said Apple was hitting its stride.
"We've taken (the mobile operating system) iOS and extended it into your car, into your home, into your health. All of these are really critical parts of your life," Cook said.
"We want one seamless kind of life. And so, I think that is huge for our future...We also did a lot of things to further our global footprint. And so, if you look at what we've done in China, we've opened more stores there. We've opened a lot more distribution there. Through the world, we've opened almost 20,000 new points of sale. We've opened 27 new Apple Stores, lot of flagship stores."
Cook said Apple took some $50 billion in revenue in emerging markets over the past calendar year.
Its new plus-sized iPhones helped the company smash sales records for the holiday season earlier in late 2014. It sold 74.5 million iPhones during the three months that ended Dec. 31 generating unprecedented revenue of $74.6 billion, beating analysts' expectations for the latest models of Apple's most popular gadget.
Net income rose 38 percent to $18 billion, as Apple reported earnings of $3.06 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting earnings of $2.60 a share on revenue of $67.39 billion.
Brian White, analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said the leading tech company has even more room to grow.
"Given Apple's powerful iPhone cycle, a big 4G ramp in China and the upcoming launch of Apple Watch in April, we believe there is still plenty to look forward to at Apple during this transformational cycle," he said in a note to clients.
Apple also forecast revenue for the current quarter between $52 billion and $55 billion. The midpoint of that range is just below the average analyst estimate of $53.6 billion for the period ending in March, when sales typically fall from their holiday season peak.
Company's shares remain valued at reasonable levels, according to analysts, because of the whopping $18 billion quarterly profit reported recently by the iPhone and iPad maker.
Using the price-earnings ratio favored by Wall Street, Apple is valued at around 16 times its annual earnings, but Fitzgerald said the value was only around 10 times the projected earnings for the next fiscal year.
Apple is far ahead in market value from the number two company, oil giant Exxon Mobil, worth some $382 billion at the market close.
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