Apple landed in the second place slot in BusinessWeekis annual InfoTech 100 list, marking it as one of the top performing tech companies world wide for 2008. Apple was topped only by Amazon, and both companies beat the likes of Google, AT&T and Microsoft.
The news likely isnit a surprise to long-term Apple share holders that have seen dramatic increases in the companyis stock value over the past year. The Cupertino companyis stock was sitting near $110 12 months ago, closed just shy of $200 at the end of December 2007.
Appleis stock has seen some volatility in the past year, as well. The stock dropped down to around $119 earlier this year, but has been on a steady increase that has brought it back up over $180 recently.
The iPod still continues to hold the top spot in portable digital media players, the iTunes Store is among the top music sellers, and the iPhone is proving to be a popular choice among smart phone buyers. The company has also been able to continue grabbing more PC market share with its Macintosh computers in a market climate where competitors are seeing flat or declining sales.
BusinessWeek compiled the list with data from Standard & Pooris Compustat and limited its selections to companies with revenues of at least US$300 million. Each company was ranked based on the percentage of change in revenue compared to the previous year, the return on equity, the total return to shareholders, and profits for the last 12 months.