Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has lost yet another crown. This time it’s the title of the most respected company in the world, reports Barron’s Vito J. Racanelli. The company has held the top spot for the last three years, but this year it has fallen to third place.
Apple’s Place On The Respected Company List
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) has grabbed the top spot, while The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) landed in second place. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) came in fourth behind Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is in fifth place.
Last year Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) placed 15th on the list, so its rise to the top spot is quite a feat. Also this year is the first time the company has placed in the top five in the nine years this poll has been done.
Apple Vs. Berkshire In Respect
Racanelli attributes some of Berkshire’s rise to the increase in the firm’s stock price. Berkshire has risen about 25 percent this year and doubled the increase of the S&P 500. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), on the other hand, has seen its stock price decline significantly since the beginning of the year.
Apple’s Innovation
Of course stock price is just a small piece of the puzzle, and there’s a good chance that it’s an end rather than the means of gaining respect. Racanelli spoke with Financial Partners Capital Management’s Craig Giventer, who looks at whether the company’s long term business model is defensible and whether it is “built to innovate, compete and grow.”
Needless to say, the main reason Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price has struggled so much this year is because of concerns that it can’t innovate any longer. Giventer also looks at the company’s management, particularly in the area of capital allocation. You may remember the problems Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) faced earlier this year in connection with its capital allocation.
David Einhorn managed to get the company to adjust its plan in a roundabout way with a lawsuit and a public debate on the subject, but in the end, shareholders saw some of their capital returned to them. The markets responded positively to it.
Global Investment Adviser’s Peter Scholla told Racanelli that another area which factors into a company’s respectability is social responsibility, and this is definitely something Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is working on. This week it was revealed that the company is planning another solar farm, this time to run its Nevada server farm.
