Apple now worth more than New Zealand's entire housing stock
The iPhone maker's stock has hit an all-time high this week.
What's bigger than New Zealand's housing bubble?
Apple's share price bubble.
The iPhone maker's stock has hit an all-time high this week. Its market cap topped $US800 billion* for the first time yesterday, then kept heading north (as I type, it's worth $US804 billion; in 1999, soon after Steve Jobs' return, it was worth $US10 billion).
Such huge numbers are hard to get your head around. But Conor Roberts, with accounting software company MYOB, expresses Apple's value in a way property-mad Kiwis can relate to:
Apple is worth $NZ1.164 trillion. Number NZ dwellings (1.836 million) x average house price ($631,000) = $1.158 trillion.
That is, the company co-founded Mr Jobs is now worth more than New Zealand's entire housing stock.
Earlier this month, Apple reported second-quarter revenue of $US52.9 billion, compared to revenue of $US50.6 billion in the same quarter in 2016.
Its quarterly net profit was $US11.0 billion, compared to the year-ago quarter's $US10.5 billion. Its P/E ratio is tracking at a (relatively modest by US tech standards) 18.
The company's cash hoard (mostly held outside the US, for tax reasons) swelled to a record $US256.8 billion ($NZ370 billion). By contrast, New Zealand's GDP (the size of our economy) was $260 billion in 2016.
And as for my "bubble" quip, Apple would probably point out that its fourth-largest shareholder is now Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
Apple is now the legendary investor's second-biggest equity holding by value after Berkshire Hathaway increased its investment to $US19.2 billion worth of the stock as of March 31 from $US7.1 billion as of December 31.
* While Apple is the first company to pass a $US800 billion valuation, though not at the top of the heap on an inflation-adjusted basis. Microsoft peaked at $US613 billion in 1999 during the dotcom bubble — or $US897 billion in today's dollars (Microsoft's market cap is currently around $US535 billion).
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Apple now worth more than New Zealand's entire housing stock
66887