On Tuesday, Apple’s worth reached the $700 billion market cap, being the first S&P 500 company to do so.
Analysts believe the company could become the first trillion-dollar company.
The $700 billion record comes after a stifling year for Apple stock, which is up more than 49%. Since Tim Cook took over as CEO in August 2011, Apple shares have more than doubled, up 135%.
According to CNBC, Munster and Evercore analyst Rob Cihra has already set a price target of $135 for Apple shares over the next year. If the company succeeds, then Apple’s worth would reach a market cap of $800 billion. For the tech giant to reach the $1 trillion mark, stock price will have to rise another 43 percent to $171 per share.
Even with Apple’s huge accomplishment, they are not the most valuable company of all time. On an inflation-adjusted basis, Microsoft’s market cap reached $613 billion in 1999, translating to $874 billion in 2014 dollars.
When Microsoft peaked, their market value was five percent of the overall value of the S&P 500. When IBM peaked in the ‘80s, it amounted to more than six percent of the blue chips’ overall value. Apple currently has a market value amounting to less than four percent of the S&P 500, even with their new record. The overall market has risen to record levels, which is one reason Apple has a lower percentage at their recent peak.
Apple will continue to grow, but their already-existing big numbers could make it more difficult to reach that $1 trillion mark.
Munster says that the law of big numbers has kept many investors from giving Apple a larger growth premium. The iPhone maker is already a huge company, and that could make it hard “for investors to imagine what they can do in the future to get things really to grow exponentially.”
The iPhone continues to sell well and early next year, Cook will bring us the Apple Watch, which could have an effect similar to their recent Apple Pay service, which is already changing how we pay.
It won’t be easy for Apple’s worth to reach that 10-figure mark, but Tim Cook’s track record and the introduction of the Watch may give the company a better chance at reaching that goal.
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