by Robert Hum of NBC
Barely a year after supplanting Exxon Mobil as the largest stock in the current marketplace, Apple entered the record books Monday, becoming the most valuable stock to have ever traded. Apple closed at another historic high of $665.15 on Monday, ending the day with a record market cap of $623.5 billion.
Apple has seen its market cap double from $300 billion to $600 billion in a mere 19 months. Now, Apple’s colossal market cap is roughly equivalent to the combined market caps of tech titans IBM (IBM), Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).
Key Apple Market Cap Milestones
May 30, 2007 – Apple tops $100 billion
March 9, 2010 – Apple passes $200 billion
May 26, 2010 – Apple becomes 2nd largest stock, surpassing Microsoft’s market cap of $219 billion
Jan. 3, 2011 – Apple crosses $300 billion milestone
Aug. 10, 2011 – Apple becomes world’s largest stock, topping Exxon’s $331 billion market cap
Jan. 25, 2012 – Apple rises to $400 billion
Feb. 29, 2012 – Apple becomes 5th stock ever to cross $500 billion
Aug. 17, 2012 – Apple closes with a $600 billion market cap for the first time
*Based on closing (not intraday) market cap values
Source: CNBC Analytics and S&P Capital IQ