There was a bit of excitement at the opening bell when the Apple share price traded up to 644 Dollars exactly, which meant that the market cap of Apple had passed through the 600 billion Dollar mark. It has been pointed out several times that Microsoft was of course a 619 billion Dollar market cap back on December 30 in 1999. General Electric got close to 600 billion Dollars in the summer (northern hemisphere) of 2000, but did not quite crack that mark. If you needed reminding, Microsoft market cap last evening was 255 billion Dollars, GE was last at 198 billion Dollars.
Something that is exciting for the watchers, Apple is up an astonishing 60 odd percent this year, I think that the idea that the stock was way too cheap and now needs to be re-rated to levels relative to their peers. Price to earnings expansion or PE expansion as they call it. GE trades on 15 times earnings, Microsoft on 11 times earnings and Apple inc. on just less than 18 times earnings. HP has experienced the opposite, PE contraction. PE deflation. The stock trades on 8 and a bit times earnings, just a little less than Dell. Ah well, Apple might still have some way to go, there was a brokerage house who just recently stuck a 1000 Dollar share price target on the stock. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster said so, and Gene has clout. But then Apple would have to be making at least 40 Dollars a share and growing by 20 to 30 percent per annum. Apple iPhone 5 and the TV pending, who knows.