Capital.com NewsWhy is it important a consideration? A standalone per-share price can tell us little about a company. Its market cap (per-share price times shares outstanding), however, places a company in context, helping us compare companies across the industry.
Large caps have been a subject of dispute among investors, analysts and company executives for quite a long. The main consideration is who will be the first to cross the $1trillion market cap line? Here’re the key contenders.
Apple
It’s hardly surprising that the company has been the global leader by market capitalisation for six years in a row. Apple stock price history tells that the company’s value was boosted by 25% in 2017 compared with the previous year. The iPhone producer won Warren Buffett’s approval as well. The investor assumes Apple will become a trillion-dollar company before his Berkshire Hathaway, worth $425.03 billion as of July 2017. As a result, Buffett’s holding purchased Apple's stock worth billions of dollars.
The company's is about to release its iPhone 8, and bullish investors bet this will push Apple forward to reach the 13-figure valuation. However, it needs to make an effort to get the extra 33%.
Alphabet
Google’s parent company is rated second among the largest companies by market cap. Being the main Apple’s contender, Alphabet has clearly fallen behind in 2017. It was only in February 2016 when Alphabet brought down its rival for the first time. Also, Apple paid as much as $29 billion in dividends in 2016, whereas Alphabet handed investors back only $4 billion.
The company’s stock needs another 60% to reach $1 trillion. Compared with 2016, the market cap has changed by 12%, more than half the Apple’s increase.
Microsoft
The producer of staples in the personal computing industry is another tech company that leads the rating. By the way, technology is the largest sector in terms of market capitalisation, outperforming the financial and consumer goods sectors.