Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) closed today at $269.00, putting the company’s market value at $244.77 billion.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) currently has a market value of$219.10 billion. Dell Inc. (DELL) has a market value of$25.32 billion.

Add them both together and Apple is worth more than Microsoft and Dell combined, $244.77 billion vs. $242.42 billion, respectively.

Now, let that headline percolate around in your brain and roll it off your tongue a few times – it’s really quite satisfying.

Congrats, Apple, for a job well done! Congrats, Jobs, for an Apple done well!

Millennial Media said today that mobile Connected Devices like Apple’s iPad and Sony PSP displayed more than 20 percent of the ad networks’ ad impressions in March, a trend that could have far reaching impact on mobile advertising as these devices grow more popular.

Millennial connects brand advertisers with the largest mobile media audience in the U.S., according to IDC. The company’s mobile advertising network reaches 83 percent of mobile users in the U.S. and it reported that its brand business grew by more than 750 percent last year, while the performance business grew almost 172 percent.

“As the largest independent mobile advertising platform in the U.S., we support every major operating system and device. In March, one out of every five ad impressions on our network were seen on a mobile connected device, and not a mobile phone,” said Erin (Mack) McKelvey, SVP of Marketing, Millennial Media, in the press release. “We have reported monthly device trends from our network for a year, but given the proliferation of smartphones and connected devices, we felt that it was now time to spotlight this data for industry-watchers who are trying to understand the role of devices and consumer behavior in the overall mobile market.”

Continue reading “Apple’s iPhone took 70% share of U.S. smartphone ad impressions in March” »

Shares of Apple Inc. today rose $0.50, or 0.21%, on lighter-than-average volume of 11,619,04 shares to set a new all-time closing high of $242.29.

Apple’s previous closing high was $241.79 set last Friday, April 9th. Apple’s all-time high (intraday) stands at $243.07, set during trading today. Apple’s 52-week low is $115.76.

At market close, Apple’s market value stands at $219.71 billion.

Apple went public on December 12, 1980 and closed with a market cap of $1.431 billion. Apple’s all-time low market value was $630.9 million on July 8, 1982.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies:
1. Exxon Mobil (XOM) – $324.40B
2. Microsoft (MSFT) – $265.92B
3. Apple (AAPL) – $219.71B
4. Wal-Mart (WMT) – $206.82B
5. Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) – $198.69B

Apple vs. Microsoft Market Cap:

Continue reading “Apple shares hit new all-time intraday, closing highs” »

Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune, “In a report to clients issued Friday, Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty offered one of her patented risk-reward snapshots of Apple (AAPL), this one even more optimistic than the last, thanks to what she sees as two new catalysts:”

• The iPad launch in March
• New iPhones in June

Elmer-DeWitt reports, “Huberty offers her usual three scenarios — bull (with three possibilities), base and bear — but leans heavily toward the bull, describing three paths to share prices as much as 115% above Apple’s closing price Thursday of $202 per share.”

Huberty’s scenarios for AAPL share price by 2012:
• Bull 1: $435 per share
• Bull 2: $358 per share
• Bull 3: $325 per share
• Base: $250 per share
• Bear: $180 per share

Full article here.

“Apple Inc. shares reached their all-time high on Thursday as excitement builds over the expected release of its tablet computer,” Gabriel Madway and Doris Frankel report for Reuters. “Although Apple has never acknowledged that a device exists, anticipation is peaking as the company enters the new year.

Madway and Frankel continue, “On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported on its blog that the company has rented a stage at a venue in San Francisco and will make a ‘major product announcement’ on Jan. 26. The report, which cited people familiar with the plans, did not say whether Apple would introduce the tablet at the event. Apple has declined to comment.”
Continue reading “Apple shares hit new all-time high” »