Apple is perhaps the only company whose capitalization is of interest not only to businessmen and analysts, but also to ordinary people. Indeed, not every day (year, decade) appears companies capable of breaking records and earning cash annually, which can be used to purchase entire countries.
The company's capitalization has been growing steadily for many years, as well as the enthusiasm of the leadership, reaching the goal of 1 trillion dollars of capital. This article looks at Apple's capitalization over the years. How rapidly the company was developing and what factors contributed to this.
Capitalization until 2010
Today it’s hard to imagine such a thing, but Apple’s capitalization for the period from 2000 to 2004 did not exceed $ 10 billion, while its main competitor in 1999 could boast a capitalization of $ 601 billion. Who would have thought that everything would change so dramatically.
The turning point in the history of the company was the release of the iPhone. The first smartphone with a touch screen "for people" did the trick. The company's operating profit at the time the telephone was released was $ 1 billion per quarter. Already in early 2008, this amount grew to $ 3 billion. After another 2 years, at the end of 2010, the company's profit was $ 4.7 billion.
And the company achieved this growth, despite the fact that the media and analysts literally waged an information war against the company, constantly announcing the imminent collapse and the need to sell shares, the value of which in 2007 varied within $ 220 apiece.
Capitalization for the period from 2011 to 2013
The situation became even more absurd in 2011. At that time, Steve Jobs had already passed away , and the last product of the company was iPhone 4s. It was then that Apple showed unprecedented growth, the ratio of which amounted to 121%. The company has grown faster than any other S&P 500 corporation.
Alas, analysts did not notice this either (or preferred not to notice). Media around the world reported that iPod sales fell sharply (by 4%), but modestly remained silent about the fact that sales of the iPhone, Apple's key product, grew 140%, which is higher than the growth of the industry as a whole. In fact, iPhone sales already bypassed the entire market and were 4 times higher than all smartphone manufacturers combined.
To see the rapid growth of the company, it was enough to look at the gap in terms of profit in 2010 and 2011. At the end of 2013, corporate raider Carl Aikan made an important statement, finally announcing the fact that Apple shares are greatly undervalued and measures need to be taken to increase capitalization to $ 1.4 billion. And he also called for an increase in the reverse release program to 150 billion, but Apple itself raised the bar to 200 billion dollars.
Capitalization for the period from 2014 to 2016
The situation changed fundamentally after the release of iPhone 6. The new phone model with an enlarged display allowed the company to grab a massive market share and again increase capital. As of the end of 2015, Apple already had 216 billion dollars in cash in the bins.
Apple's market capitalization at the beginning of 2015 amounted to $ 700 billion, which is an unprecedented record for a company whose shares are freely bought and sold on the stock exchange. It was an abnormal growth. A year later, the company slowed down and temporarily lost the title of the most expensive company. Exactly for one day.
The first quarters of 2015 and 2016 were significant for the company. Apple managed to earn 18.02 billion and 18.36 billion, respectively. By the end of the year, the company's capitalization remained in the $ 736 billion position, which allowed it to remain the most expensive company in the world and the most expensive brand.
Apple capitalization for 2017
A much more intense situation began to develop this year. Today, Apple's capitalization is already in excess of $ 800 billion. This was announced by company CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday May 9 this year. During the bidding, the price of one share was $ 153 per share. In total, more than 5 billion securities are in circulation.
For comparison, at the same time, Alphabet had a capitalization of 652 billion, and Microsoft 533 billion. Apple still shows an immediate increase in profits, despite the fact that sales of some key products have declined. So, iPhone sales for the first time in history decreased by 1%. And iPad sales were down 13%.
At the same time, the mood of analysts and shareholders has noticeably changed. Previously, everyone involved in the securities market was skeptical about the company and did not believe in its success, but now each of them sings praises to her.
LibertyView Capital Management President Rick Meckler praised the company for being able to maintain such a high position while having a very limited range of products and maintaining margins while ignoring the success of competitors.
Apple's net profit in the second quarter grew by almost 5%. The company's revenue for the quarter amounted to almost 53 billion dollars. For comparison, in 2016, this figure was at around $ 50 billion.
Prospects for further growth
If you believe the forecasts of analysts, then for Apple everything is just beginning. If the company's quotes continue to grow at the same pace as it is now, then the company's market capitalization may exceed the $ 1 trillion mark this year. This is certain analyst Brian White, who claims that Apple shares will go up to $ 202 per share this year.
It is also worth paying attention to the growth of the company from the fall of 2016 to May 2017, you can see an almost 50% increase. Moreover, Apple accounts for 4% of the S&P 500, with a combined capital of almost $ 22 trillion. The main catalyst for growth should be the anniversary iPhone X.
So I could buy Apple for my money?
This question interests many. On the Internet there are many beautiful charts that show companies that Apple can purchase for their cash.
- If desired, Apple can completely turn the fast food market by buying rights from Starbucks (84 billion), from McDonald's (93 billion) and, in addition, take Dunkin 'Donuts (5.3 billion). At the same time, Apple will still have change.
- As the most expensive brand in history, Apple could buy another legendary brand of its own. For example, Coca-Cola, which costs almost 180 billion dollars. Or something more necessary for the "apple" corporation - the Disney company. Its value is $ 202 billion.
- Automotive industry. Another real scenario for the company is the purchase of a car concern to develop an unmanned vehicle control system or create its own transportation service, in the manner of Uber.
- And finally. Apple could enlist the technology of other IT companies by simply purchasing them. Apple could buy Spotify to develop Apple Music without competitors. Could buy Nokia Here, to develop its own mapping service. Apple has enough money even for Adobe and Sony combined.
Comparison of Apple capitalization with Russian companies
Every year, when Apple's capitalization grows and sets a new record, sites related to Apple's theme in one way or another draw beautiful graphs that compare the cash flows of Apple and other companies. This happened last year, when the company's capitalization grew to $ 724 billion.
For us, it is especially interesting to compare Apple with Russian companies. For example, Gazprom’s capitalization is only 1/13 of Apple’s capitalization. The situation looks much worse in comparison with Sberbank (capitalization of 21 billion) or Megafon (capitalization of 9.5 billion).
Capitalization of Apple in comparison with the state stock markets
Since we are talking about the fact that Apple is the most expensive company in the world, why not buy brands to buy countries and brands. In 2014, the Internet was full of colorful headlines - "Apple's capitalization exceeded the capitalization of Russia." Similar articles appeared on the network after the leading Bloomberg TV announced that by selling Apple, it would be possible to buy out the entire Russian stock market and at the same time there would be a change for the purchase of the iPhone 6 model for each Russian citizen.
In fairness, it is worth noting that this happened not only because of the growth of the "apple", but also because of the fall of the Russian economy. Even earlier, in 2012, when Apple had a capitalization of just 400 billion, the apple corporation could already afford the acquisition of Greece. Who knows how many years it will take before the moment when Apple will have more money than the whole world.