Not surprisingly, it was the Tech Bubble of the last decade that first launched companies into rarified half trillion dollar market valuations levels. Between 1999 and 2000 Intel , Cisco and General Electric all saw their valuations peak at around $500 billion. (GE is a minority shareholder in NBCUniversal)
While Microsoft may not excite investors like it did in Y2K, the software behemoth still holds the record for the most expensive valuation. Its market cap closed out 1999 at just over $600 billion according to Standard and Poor’s, before peaking north of $650 billion during the tech bubble in 2000.
The high analyst price target on the street for Apple right now is $700. At that price, its market cap will handily surpass Microsoft’s Y2K record.
The Apple TV was one of the last product initiativesspearheaded by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, before his death. If the entertainment device and platform prove as big a game changer as the company’s iTunes, iPhone and iPad, Apple shares could well continue their record run.
With its current float of about 932 million shares outstanding, Apple shares would need to top $1073 to reach the Trillion Dollar mark.
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