Predictions: Apple’s $4tn target will remain out of reach - FT中文网
登录×
电子邮件/用户名
密码
记住我
请输入邮箱和密码进行绑定操作:
请输入手机号码,通过短信验证(目前仅支持中国大陆地区的手机号):
请您阅读我们的用户注册协议隐私权保护政策,点击下方按钮即视为您接受。
FT商学院

Predictions: Apple’s $4tn target will remain out of reach

There is a noticeable gap between tech company’s market cap growth and expansion in its profits

In 2024, Apple will release its first new hardware product in close to a decade. If demand for the bulky Vision Pro virtual reality headsets is high, the company will be one step closer to proving that its future does not rest on iPhone sales.

Add a billion paying subscribers and a vast cash pile and its position as the most valuable stock makes sense. In the past five years it has surpassed $1tn, $2tn and $3tn market cap milestones. But its path to becoming the world’s first $4tn company will be steeper.

On the plus side, Apple’s net income margin has remained high thanks to growth in services such as streaming and payments. However, revenue is forecast to drop 3 per cent in fiscal 2023 year as global demand for new smartphones slows. VR headsets are not expected to make up for this decline.

There is also a noticeable gap between Apple’s market cap growth and its profit expansion. Apple became a $1tn company in the summer of 2018. Since then its market value has almost tripled. Over the same period, annual net income has grown by 63 per cent.   

The distance between the two does not bode well for the market cap growth spurt necessary for the company to reach $4tn. The stock trades at 27 times forward earnings, according to S&P Capital. At this multiple, next year the stock would trade at about $3tn.

Apple can help matters by using its $166bn cash pile to buy back more shares. Having bought a fifth of its own shares since 2018, Apple stays popular with investors. But high interest rates could damp demand for its shares. 

Problems in China may also eclipse any financial engineering. As its third-largest market by sales, clearly Chinese consumers value the Apple brand. But some government agencies have banned the use of its devices. Should a wider crackdown follow, that will give domestic rivals a leg-up. The sales hit would not only put a $4tn valuation out of reach, it could also knock Apple off its top rank in the US stock market.

Listen to Lex deputy editor Elaine Moore talk to creators, companies and critics about the next era of social media in the FT’s new Tech Tonic podcast series.

版权声明:本文版权归FT中文网所有,未经允许任何单位或个人不得转载,复制或以任何其他方式使用本文全部或部分,侵权必究。

这次美国大选对美国企业意味着什么?

大选结果将对能源、汽车和制药等领域的企业产生重大影响。

德国的商业模式失败了吗?

德国三大主要产业同时陷入低迷,经济也停滞不前。政客们终于清醒过来了吗?

Lex专栏:马斯克利用美国大选出风头

这位亿万富翁的名字没有出现在选票上,但他已利用美国大选吸引了大家的注意力。

暴力是怎样逐渐成为美国大选主题的?

在充斥着“前所未有”的极端言论的竞选季之后,选民们笼罩在紧张氛围中。

英国新税制或使其成为新的“避税天堂”

顾问警告说,英国政府取代非居籍计划的建议将吸引那些寻求短期免税期的人士

Lex专栏:高端电动汽车有望助力小米登上领奖台

小米的新车型可能不是每个人的梦想之车,但这家公司在竞争中处于有利地位。
设置字号×
最小
较小
默认
较大
最大
分享×