Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company, after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter. Apple's stock has been on the decline since the company's quarterly earnings report Wednesday suggested that its fast growth phase, rare for a company of its size, may be coming to an end.
The tech firm's stock fell 2.6% to $438.76 in afternoon trading Friday, for a market capitalization of $412bn. That followed a 12% drop on Thursday, the biggest one-day percentage drop for the company since 2008. Exxon Mobil gained 10 cents Friday to $91.45 for a market capitalization of $417bn.
Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011, displacing the oilcompany from a perch it had held since 2005. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012 – at least until Friday.
China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than either Exxon's or Apple's, but only based on prices on the Shanghai stock exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment. PetroChina's shares also trade in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange. Based on prices there, its market capitalization never went as high as $500bn.
Apple and Exxon are among a half dozen US companies to have ever reached $500bn in market value. Apple and Microsoft are the only ones to have ever hit $600bn.
Apple's stock price peaked in September, at $705.07 on the day the iPhone 5 was released. Exxon has been trading steadym having set a record in 2008 for the highest quarterly earnings by any company. In the first nine months of 2012, Exxon earned nearly $35bn, or 10% more than the same period in 2011, on revenue of $367bn. Results for the fourth quarter are due on 1 February.
This year, investors seem unforgiving with Apple, looking for perfection and punishing the stock for anything less. The company's stock price slipped below $500 for the first time last week, as investors saw signs that the iPhone 5 was falling behind competition from phones running Google's Android software, especially those from Samsung.
The latest quarterly report added to the concerns. Apple warned that its revenue growth, which had been running at a speed more reminiscent of promising startups than multi-national corporations, is slowing down considerably. It has been nearly three years since a new product has come from a company that is still seen as the embodiment of innovation.
That last product, the iPad, came in 2010, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs was still alive. Some analysts question whether Apple can keep growing by just releasing new versions of its old products. The long-rumored Apple TV is still just that – a rumor.
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