Well, I didn’t expect it to happen until the fall — but I also didn’t anticipate the stock market collapse. And yet, here we are. After yesterday’s plunge, and today’s rally, Apple has just overtaken Exxon as the most valuable public company in the world.
The feat happened briefly this morning, before Exxon surged a bit ahead once again (update below). As of right now, the two are separated by under $500 million. That’s remarkable when you consider that just three weeks ago, at the time of my post, the two were $60 billion apart.
But again, this is already a different time. Three weeks ago, Exxon’s market cap was at $410 billion. Today, that market cap is just a hair above $340 billion. The share price has plummeted from $85 down to $70. And with the broader market collapse, Exxon’s price fell nearly $5 yesterday alone. That wiped out nearly $25 billion in market cap in one day.
Apple got hit hard as well yesterday, but not nearly as bad as Exxon. And today, while Exxon’s stock remains depressed, Apple’s has been rallying. Hence, the changing of the guard.
We’ll see what the stocks end up closing at, but it seems pretty clear at this point that Apple will be formally crowned the most valuable public company in the world at some point shortly.
Update: Apple is now ahead of Exxon again. And the gap seems to be increasing — Apple has over a billion dollar lead.
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Update 2: As both stock are now falling, Apple’s lead is increasing. Now over $3.5 billion.
Update 3: About an hour til market close, and Apple now over $5 billion ahead.
Update 4: And with just 30 minutes to go, Exxon has pulled back ahead, with a huge surge.
Update 5: And the massive last-minute surge sees Exxon close the day just ahead of Apple still in market cap.
Update 6: One day later, Apple move ahead.
