Apple Inc. is now worth more than US$300 billion, after the company’s stock closed at a record high of $329.57 per share on Monday, a gain of $7.01 (+2.17%). That price puts the company’s market at $302.3 billion, making it the world’s second most valuable company to Exxon Mobil Corp, which is worth $375.9 billion.
Shares in AAPL traded higher throughout the Monday session, trading as high as $330.26, an intraday high. The broader markets also enjoyed a rally, with the DJIA ending the day at 11,670.75, up 94.24, the NASDAQ at 2,691.52, up 38.65, and the S&P 500 ending the day at 1,271.87, up 14.23.
Exxon itself ended the day higher at $74.55, a gain of $1.43 (+1.96%). Apple rivals Google ($604.35, up $10.38 (+1.75%)), Microsoft ($27.98, up $0.07 (+0.25%)), and even Research In Motion ($58.94, up $0.81 (+1.39%)) similarly saw gains.
In short, the markets ended the day awash in a sea of green that also buoyed AAPL to its new lofty perch above the ever so exclusive $300 billion mark.
That’s not so bad for a company that just twelve years ago sparked Dell CEO Michael Dell to advise Apple to close its doors, sell of its assets and return the money to its shareholders (which is also known as Apple Death Knell #10).
Dell ended the day at $13.69 per share, up $0.14 (+1.03%), with a market cap of $26.4 billion, a bit more than half of Facebook’s new valuation of $50 billion (according to a Goldman Sachs deal with the private company).