Apple closed today at $542.44 a share which gives the company a market capitalisation of $505.75bn. And a cool 20 percent of that is in hard cash. Look at the shart showing the rise of the company’s market value. Uncertainty continued right up to Steve Jobs’ death in October. When this did not mean armageddon, as some had foretold, confidence increased at a steady rate. I believe uncertainty over the succession has held back Apple for several years.
With the launch of iPad 3 next week and the prospect of a new iPhone, not to mention new MacBooks, the scene is set for even more gains. We need to keep an eye on that Price/Earnings ratio which has now risen to 15.44. It’s still low within the peer group (dramatically so in comparison with Amazon’s lofty P/E of 131) so there is room for growth. If the market considered Apple to have the same potential as Amazon, every Apple share would be worth over $3,000. Way to go.