Apple has been the second most valuable company for the past couple of months, and today moved to number one. The stint as “World’s Most Valuable Company” was brief when Apple’s Market Cap edged above that of Exxon Mobile. The two flip-flopped through the day as part of many swings in the stock market as a whole. The companies crossed over around the $340 billion mark, but at the end of the day Exxon was back on top at 348.32B compared to Apple’s 346.74B.
With the current trend in the market, the two will probably switch numerous times over the next few days. Apple will probably end up pulling ahead simply because Crude Oil prices are dropping, and Exxon’s market cap will slide a bit more. Both companies have been dropping considerably this week and last. Exxon Mobile (XOM) is currently at $70.71 a share which is off nearly 20% from its high at $88, while Apple (AAPL) is only about 8% off it’s high of $404 a share. Apple’s market cap has less reason to fall than Exxon especially when it’s current decline is a result of the market itself, and no action by Apple.
Either way, it would be great to be in either of these companies’ positions, and Exxon has been the leader since 2005. It’s quite a remarkable story for Apple, which in 1997, when Steve Jobs came back, had a market cap of only $2.4 billion. That’s 14,447% growth over 14 years which is really unfathomable. The fourth quarter of 2011 seems especially strong for Apple with the impending launch of the iPhone 5.
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