Would make Apple most valuable corporation

In the near future, Apple may surpass Exxon Mobil as the world's biggest corporation in terms of market capitalization, says Gleacher & Co. analyst Brian Marshall. "Apple continues to defy modern principles of economics and delivered the investment community something never seen before (e.g., quarterly revenue of $28.6 billion growing 80 percent year over year)," he writes, referring to this week's third-quarter results. "We expect Apple will become the largest market cap company on the planet when the stock hits approximately $445."

Based on high share prices Apple achieved a $358.9 billion market value on Thursday. That left it with a comparatively small $62 billion gap with Exxon, which at the time sat at $421.5 billion. Marshall cautions though that for Apple to become the leader in market cap, Exxon shares must stay relatively flat. So far in 2011 they have grown by approximately 14 percent.

Apple added $60 billion to its market cap during the month of June. The company may be able to leapfrog Exxon if several planned products prove enough of a catalyst; these include everything from iCloud and a new iPhone, expected this fall, to the iPad 3, which will likely arrive next spring.

By Electronista Staff

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Investor, industry, Exxon, Apple