Apple Is Going to Be the First Trillion-Dollar Company
It’s only $100 billion away.
Bloomberg, March 1, 2018
During the dot-com-crazed 1990s, Cisco Systems Inc. became the world’s most valuable company. Widely expected to become the first company to hit a trillion-dollar 1 capitalization, it made it barely halfway there. When the technology sector peaked in March 2000, Cisco had a market capitalization near $550 billion.
From that peak, the entire technology sector imploded. Cisco fared even worse than the Nasdaq, losing 87 percent from its zenith to its nadir. Today, some 18 years later, Cisco is worth about $221 billion; its average annual compounded returns from those lofty heights is a negative -2.17 percent per year, including reinvested dividends.
The world, it seems, would have to wait a while for its first true trillion-dollar market capitalization company. 2
I was discussing this with a friend earlier this week. Apple is inching toward that trillion-dollar mark (its valuation hovers around $900 billion). Prior to the recent 12 percent market swoon, Apple had been trading at an all-time high of $180.10 per share. As of this week, it eclipsed that, recovering all of that February drawdown.
The trend suggests that sometime this year, Apple will become America’s first trillion-dollar company. What will drive the move to a trillion dollars? Consider these four factors as key to Apple’s continued upward momentum:
Share repurchases: Since 2012, when management first announced its intentions to do big share buybacks, Apple has shrunk its outstanding publicly traded shares considerably. As of 2013, there were 6.6 billion shares available to the public. Today, that count stands at a little over 5.07 billion shares – a 23.2 percent reduction.
Apple’s board of directors had most recently authorized a $210 billion share-repurchase program that is expected to be completed by March 2019, according to Apple investor relations. That was before the very corporate friendly 2017 tax reform bill was passed. I would expect that bill will encourage even more share repurchases. We should not be surprised to see a 10 or even 20 percent share count reduction over the next five years.
What is the effect of reducing share count? It makes the earnings of each share higher proportionately. At the same price, higher earnings equal a lower price-to-earnings ratio, and the company appears cheaper. This could have the impact of attracting value buyers, including…
Warren Buffett: The famous value investor has been notoriously tech averse throughout his career. His recent announcement that he is out of IBM and into Apple in a big waysurprised some people. Buffett said Apple is now Berkshire Hathaway’s second biggest holding (after troubled serial fraudster Wells Fargo); AAPL was the stock BRK bought the most of in 2017. Although he claims he still has confidence in Wells Fargo, he cut his stake last year; don’t be surprised to see Berkshire’s Wells holdings get further reduced.
Buffett’s faithful followers often follow his lead, and are likely to add Apple to their portfolio of value stocks.
Index buyers: The past decade has seen indexing go from a modest niche to one of the most popular styles of investing. The explosive gains in assets under management for Vanguard ($5 trillion) and Blackrock ($6 trillion) attest to the strength of passive investing.
Apple is the biggest company in the Standard & Poor 500, the Nasdaq 100 and the Dow Jones Industrial average — three of the best-known, most-followed indices. As such it captures the flow into index holdings, whenever markets rise. Apple accounts for almost 4 percent of the S&P 500 (its market cap is about $23 trillion); 4.9 percent of the price-weighted Dow; and over a whopping 11 percent of the Nasdaq 100 ($7.85 trillion).3
New products: A slew of new and upgraded products are coming up. These usually drive the next cycle in Apple’s revenue, profits and ultimately price. New services, iPhones, AirPods, wireless chargers, over-the-ear headphones and home devices could be the spark that adds the next $100 billion in market cap.
I know, there are skeptics. There has been lots of skepticism about Apple for literally decades. The Mac site Daring Fireball has kept a running list of “claim chowder” — all of the bad reviews of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, etc. that (incorrectly) forecasted disastrous sales. I see no reason this time is any different.
What factors could derail seeing a huge T in Apple’s market capitalization? Two quickly to mind:
The market not cooperating: We tend to forget that the overall market and a company’s sector are responsible for about two-thirds of its gains. If tech falls out of favor, or if the overall market rolls over, it will put a trillion dollars out of reach for Apple.
Apple comes in second: The most likely challenger in the race to a trillion would be Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com Inc. It has a market cap of $732 billion dollars — and an infinitely higher valuation — so it has a tougher road to travel. But I would not put anything past Bezos & Co., and it would not be the first time they saw a 35 percent gain in a year.
Cisco jinx be damned, I predict a better than 40 percent chance that Apple’s trillion-dollar value will occur this year. 4
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1. There is nothing significant about a trillion dollars – or Dow 10,000 or any other base 10 number that merely reflects the historical coincidence of humans having 10 fingers.
2. In 2007, PetroChina had a theoretical trillion-dollar valuation, but with an asterisk. Most of its outstanding shares were owned by the Chinese government, and it did not trade freely on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It too subsequently collapsed, and now has a market cap just higher than $200 billion dollars, still 80 percent off of those theoretical highs.
3. In April 2011, Nasdaq announced it was slashing the weight of Apple in the NDX index from 20.5 percent to 12.3 percent.
4. I say 40 percent chance with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Originally: Apple Is Going to Be the First Trillion-Dollar Company
