Wednesday Apple Rumors: AAPL Market Cap Tops $500 Billion

by Adam Patterson | February 29, 2012 12:13 pm

daily apple rumors AAPL[1]Here are your Apple rumors[2] and AAPL news items for Wednesday:

Apple’s Market Capitalization Tops $500 Billion: Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL[3]) market value rose above $500 billion as shares climbed 1.3% to $542.44 at 9:30 a.m. Driven largely by anticipation of the iPad 3 release[4], Apple’s market cap reached $505.8 billion — a height not seen by a company since the last recession. Apple’s market value outstrips that of the second most valuable company, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM[5]) by a clear $93.4 billion. Consumers are anticipating the release of a next-generation iPhone by the third quarter in addition to the pending release of the iPad 3, and investor confidence shows no signs of flagging.

iPad Trademark Hearing Begins: Proview Electronics brings its case to the Guangdong Higher People’s Court today in the continuing trademark litigation[6] against Apple over the iPad brand name. According to CNN, Apple maintains[7] that it carried out the transfer of trademark rights in good faith and that Proview is trying to renege on an honest contract; Proview claims that Apple approached them for brand rights through the guise of a shell company and closed the deal under deceptive terms. It seems unlikely that Proview will win a favorable verdict. In the chance that Proview is handed a favorable ruling, the only probable outcome would order the renaming of Apple tablets sold within China — a change unlikely to dent sales.

Apple Predicted to Declare Quarterly Dividend: In light of breaking a $500 billion market value, Apple is likely to declare a quarterly dividend later this year. Analysts at Bloomberg report[8] that the dividend will likely set at about $2 per share, a projection based on recent dividends paid by other major tech companies, especially Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT[9]). Tim Cook recently stated that Apple’s Board is in “active discussion” about what to do with Apple’s $97.6 billion in cash and investments, stating that such a sum is “more than we need to run a company.” Apple generated nearly $16 billion in cash the first quarter of FY2012 and is predicted to generate a total of $75 billion by the end of its fiscal year; paying a dividend will likely yield further benefits for both the company and its investors.

Adam Patterson is Assistant Editor of InvestorPlace. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities[10]. For more from the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[11] stories.

Endnotes:

  1. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/
  2. Apple rumors: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/
  3. AAPL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AAPL
  4. largely by anticipation of the iPad 3 release: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/apple-valuation-tops-500-billion-as-company-readies-ipad-3-introduction.html
  5. XOM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=XOM
  6. continuing trademark litigation: https://investorplace.com/2012/02/tuesday-apple-rumors-patent-holder-of-ipad-name-in-china-wants-a-big-payday-aapl/
  7. Apple maintains: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/29/business/ipad-china-lawsuit-explainer/index.html
  8. report: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/apple-says-allowing-china-s-proview-to-use-ipad-brand-would-harm-consumers.html
  9. MSFT: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MSFT
  10. securities: https://investorplace.com/investing-in-securities/
  11. Apple Rumors: https://investorplace.com/2012/02/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/02/wednesday-apple-rumors-market-value-tops-500-billion/