Apple loses crown as most valuable company


(MENAFN- AFP) Apple shares extended their losses Friday, as the California tech giant lost its position as the world's biggest company based on market value.

In midday trade on Wall Street, Apple shares were down 2.37 percent at $439.82, giving it a market capitalization of $412 billion. Oil giant ExxonMobil meanwhile rose 0.26 percent to $91.60 with a market cap of $417 billion.

In August 2011, Apple first overtook ExxonMobil as the most valuable company in the world based on the value of its stock.

A year later, Apple dethroned longtime rival Microsoft as the most valuable company in history based on the value of its stock at $622 billion.

Apple took a bruising this week after a gloomy forecast accompanying its record quarterly profits prompted pessimism over the tech giant's slowing growth trajectory.

Apple on Wednesday announced a profit of $13.1 billion on revenue of $54.5 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended on December 29, with sales of iPhones and iPads setting quarterly highs.

But despite those figures, investors soured on Apple after it forecast that revenue for the current quarter would range from $41-43 billion and that it would have a gross margin of 37.5 to 39.5 percent.


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