Apple has had a terrific year already in 2015. The stock is up 22% year to date and it does not look to stop there. Apple had previously broken the all time high market cap in US history of $700 billion earlier in February. Now the company is on the cusp of $775 billion, as its stock hit a new all time high at yesterday’s close of $133. Apple not only has the largest market cap in the US, but now is worth double of the company with the second largest market cap, Exxon Mobil. After Monday’s close, Exxon Mobil saw its shares sag to $89.01, giving the company a market cap of $374 billion.
The race to $1 trillion
Apple has long been a favorite among Smart Money. The company continues to deliver products that are in high demand and the company, for the most part, reports great earnings on a consistent basis. In fact, Apple’s fourth quarter 2014 earnings showed that Apple reported the largest quarterly profit ever in history. Apple reeled in $18 billion in net profit, revenue came in at $74.6 billion.
Aiding in the historical quarter was the fact that Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were in high demand, selling 74.5 million iPhones during the quarter. Making matters only better, Apple was able to boost the iPhone’s gross profit margin with the help of the iPhone 6 Plus, by 2% to 39.9%, further increasing profits.
Apple’s future growth plans
Apple continues to work on new areas of growth and new markets to dominate. The much anticipated Apple Watch is set to be released in April, which will be widely watched with high hopes of success. The company likely has a plan for the iPad, which saw a 22% fall in sales during the fourth quarter, the one soft spot of the report. Additionally, the latest and most prevalent rumor out there right now is that the company is looking to enter the auto business by designing a state-of-the-art car, entering a new industry. First there was speculation that Apple could possibly acquire Tesla Motors, but that chatter has since died down. No one knows for certain at the moment, but there has certainly been some sightings of the “Apple Van” across the US, further adding to speculation.
Overall, Apple is making history with each day that its stock rises above $133. A historical quarterly profit of $18 billion beat out the previous record of Exxon’s $15 billion profit in 2012. Continuing to fuel the Apple frenzy is the highly anticipated release of the Apple Watch and speculation of Apple entering the auto business. It is too early to tell, but either way, Apple is off to an amazing start in 2015.
Disclosure: None
