Apple Inc.is market capitalization (market cap) surpassed Googleis this week, with the company ending Wednesday with a market cap of US$158.8 billion, some $1.6 billion higher than Googleis market cap of 157.2 billion. Appleis stock has been on a run since Friday rising more than $15 per share to close at $179.30.

Googleis shares have also been on a heater of sorts, rising more than $25 per share to close Wednesday at $500.03 per share. For those keeping score at home, Appleis market cap is higher because it has more shares outstanding -- 885.9 million -- compared to Googleis 314.4 million shares outstanding.

Market cap is the term for the value of a public company as determined by price per share multiplied by the total number of shares outstanding. For the sake of comparison, Microsoft has a market cap of $254.4 billion, while Dell Inc. has a market cap of a mere $50.8 billion. Hewlett Packard (HP) has a market cap of $112.5 billion.

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.  

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