Bryan Chaffin Update: Exxon Mobil finished out the day back in first place, ending the day with a valuation $600 million higher than that of Apple. XOM closed at $72.00, up $0.420 (+0.59%), with a market cap of $350.1 billion. AAPL ended the day at $376.99, up $3.29 (+0.88%), with a market cap of $349.5 billion. The chart below was also updated with the session’s closing information.
Apple Inc. and Exxon Mobil continued their battle for supremacy as the world’s most valuable company Friday, changing place like partners at a square dance whose stuttering caller got stuck on “dosey doe.” Apple took over the #1 spot in market capitalization for the first time on Tuesday during intra-day trading, and closed with that ranking for the first time on Wednesday.
As of this writing, Exxon Mobile (XOM) has the lead, trading at $71.96 per share, up $0.380 (+0.53%), with a market cap of $349.9 billion. Shares in Apple Inc. were trading at $377.06, up $3.36 (+0.90%), with a market cap of $349.6 billion, $300 shy of Exxon’s valuation.
The two companies have been gaining and shedding market cap valuations in the US$349 billion range (+/- a billion here and a billion there) throughout the day.
The chart below shows the trading action on the two companies throughout the day on Friday, as expressed in percentage terms. The companies are so close in valuation, that whenever the lines get close, their respective rankings in market cap switch places.
AAPL vs. XOM during Friday’s Trading Session
Source: Yahoo! Finance
*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a tiny, almost insignificant share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.
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With so many billions of dollars tossed around, it is difficult to follow the thread of the article, but it was fun trying. Why does the chart show the blue line (AAPL) is higher than the green line (XOM) which might indicate AAPL has the higher valuation that is contrary to what the opening paragraph says? If I could figure out what the vertical axis represents, it might be clearer. I know what market captialization means (shares outstanding times price per share) but I think it might be a good opportunity to educate those readers who hear the term but nobody takes the time to explain it. This would have been the place rather than getting into the minutae of which company is more valuable. There is also an error in the third paragraph. XOM was ahead by $300 as stated but $300 MILLION.