Apple’s Market Cap $500 Billion

Today Apple (AAPL Charts and Quote) officially joined the very select list of six companies who have had their market  break the $500 billion mark. Market Cap is short for "Market capitalization", defined as the number of shares outstanding by the selling price per share.


Below are excerpts and some new commentary to go with my full article:

Apple's Market Cap Breaks $500 Billion Barrier; Can It Keep This Where All Others Have Failed?

The first five to break into this list are Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Intel, GE and Exxon Mobil.
ExxonMobil broke the $500B mark in 2007 when the price of oil soared to $147 per barrel. The others reached this mark during between 1999 and 2000 during the technology bubble.

The CNN says "Apple's valuation is now higher than the gross domestic product of Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, or Taiwan."


Update Feb 29, 2012 after submitting article to Seeking Alpha:  


On Today's CNBC "Fast Money" they gave the following statistics for other stocks that first hit $500B

Company	Date	P/E	Profit Margin
Apple	Today	11.54	28.2%
Microsoft	Q2 2000	22.6	9.15%
GE	Q4 1999	47.9	9.51%

Update March 1, 2012:  Read my full article at:

Apple's Market Cap Breaks $500 Billion Barrier; Can It Keep This Where All Others Have Failed?

Apple is certainly profitable and their products are in high demand.