Can Apple Inc. Become The 1st $1 Trillion Company?

January 11, 2018

Owen Raszkiewicz

Owen is the Chief Investment Officer of Rask Invest and Founder of Rask. Since founding The Rask Group in 2017 in the hillside suburb of Upwey, Victoria, Owen has overseen the growth of the Rask platform to over 200,000 investor followers. Today, Owen oversees the Rask Analyst team, which helps more than 4,000 Aussies build core portfolios from ETFs and shares, he hosts Australia's biggest investing podcast, The Australian Investors Podcast, appears on Rask's other channels, covering Property, Business and Finance; and leads Rask Education - our education platform which has enrolled over 25,000 Australians into free finance courses. Prior to founding Rask, Owen was an investment analyst at the highly regarded managed funds research business and a writer/analyst for one of the most well-known share market publications. Owen’s formal qualifications include a Master of Applied Finance and Master of Financial Planning from Kaplan Professional, Bachelor of Technology (Information Systems) from Swinburne University of Technology, Advanced Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning) and Diploma of Mortgage Broking Management. He's also completed level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program.

More analysis

Will Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares continue powering higher, or will the entire thing lose its charge — like its phone batteries after a few years?

Apple Inc Shares

AAPL stock price — Data source: Google Finance

Since the release of the first iPhone in 2007, coupled with the rising popularity of iPads, Macs, iTunes and more, Apple shares have risen strongly, as can be seen in the chart above.

According to Google Finance, Apple’s market capitalisation, which is the total number of shares multiplied by the share price, is $US 896 billion.

That’s $1.14 trillion in Australian dollars — equivalent to eight Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (ASX: CBA).

With the current number of shares outstanding (around 5.13 billion), Apple’s share price would need to reach around $195 per share. Yesterday, Apple shares closed at $174.29. Meaning, it would need to rise another 12% from here.

Analysts Are Bullish

According to The Wall Street Journal, analysts are bullish on Apple. Of the 38 analysts surveyed, 31 rate Apple shares as “Overweight” or “Buy” with just five analysts having a neutral or “Hold” rating.

The average price target is $191.84. A ‘price target’ is their estimate of the fair value, however, price targets are often wrong.

Is it a 4 Horse Race?

Apple isn’t the only giant tech company rapidly growing towards the elusive but otherwise unimportant level of $1 trillion.

MKT CAP — Data sources: Stockrow, Google Finance

As can be seen in the chart above, Amazon.Com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) are nipping at its heels, according to data from Stockrow.

Analysts from Morgan Stanley wrote in a research report that they believe Amazon could be the first to reach $1 trillion, which would require a share price of around $US2,000.

These are the four largest companies in the world by market capitalization according to Forbes.

What’s most remarkable about them is the pace of the growth of all of them combined.

In just ten years the combined value of Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon has risen from $US 488 billion to nearly $US 2.9 trillion ($3.75 trillion), or around 490%.

The entire Australian stock exchange, which includes more than 2,000 companies, was worth $US 1.4 trillion in November 2017, according to the World Federation of Exchanges.

Did you know it’s free to join The Rask Group’s Investor Club Newsletter? It’s a regular (usually weekly) news and educational update on financial markets, investing and unique strategies. Join today and get ready to laugh and learn.

Click here to join The Rask Group’s Investor Club Newsletter Today

Hey, you, read this disclaimer: This article contains information only. It is not financial advice. It is no substitute for trusted and licensed financial advice and should not be relied upon. By using our website you agree to our Code of Ethics, Disclaimer & Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Also, don’t forget, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

$50,000 per year in passive income from shares? Yes, please!

With interest rates UP, now could be one of the best times to start earning passive income from a portfolio. Imagine earning 4%, 5% — or more — in dividend passive income from the best shares, LICs, or ETFs… it’s like magic.

So how do the best investors do it?

Chief Investment Officer Owen Rask has just released his brand new passive income report. Owen has outlined 10 of his favourite ETFs and shares to watch, his rules for passive income investing, why he would buy ETFs before LICs and more.

You can INSTANTLY access Owen’s report for FREE by CLICKING HERE NOW and creating a 100% FREE Rask Account.

(Psst. By creating a free Rask account, you’ll also get access to 15+ online courses, 1,000+ podcasts, invites to events, a weekly value investing newsletter and more!)

Unsubscribe anytime. Read our Terms, Financial Services Guide, Privacy Policy. We’ll never sell your email address. Our company is Australian owned.

Join the conversation

Information warning: The information on this website is published by The Rask Group Pty Ltd (ABN: 36 622 810 995) is limited to factual information or (at most) general financial advice only. That means, the information and advice does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not specific to you, your needs, goals or objectives. Because of that, you should consider if the advice is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on the information. If you don’t know what your needs are, you should consult a trusted and licensed financial adviser who can provide you with personal financial product advice. In addition, you should obtain and read the product disclosure statement (PDS) before making a decision to acquire a financial product. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Financial Services Guide before using this website. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative (#1280930) of AFSL #383169.