Apple marks stint as most valuable company

Apple Inc. briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil Corp. Tuesday as the nation’s most valuable company.

The iPhone and iPad maker led for much of the day before Exxon Mobil’s stock gained just enough to hold the lead.

The two companies are so close that Apple is likely to keep the top spot soon.

Apple’s stock gained 5.9 percent to $374.01, bringing its market capitalization to about $347 billion.

Exxon Mobil’s stock, meanwhile, closed up 2.1 percent at $71.64. That gives the oil company a market cap of $348 billion. Its stock was down earlier in the day, allowing Apple to take the lead.

Apple overtook Microsoft Corp., the previous No. 2, last year.

Other big-name corporations, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and General Electric Co., don’t even come close.

Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co., explained the tight race. “Exxon obviously sells a product that people need. Apple sells a product that people want," he said.

Exxon Mobil, which set a record in 2008 for the highest quarterly earnings by any company, has limited growth prospects.

"It's growing, but not as quickly as Apple," Marshall said.

Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., has been on a roll with its iPad tablet and iPhone. In its latest quarterly report, Apple said stronger sales helped more than double its net income to $7.31 billion and grow revenue by 82 percent to $28.6 billion.

Exxon, of Irving, Texas, posted a 41-percent earnings increase in its second-quarter to $10.68 billion. Revenue rose 36 percent to $125.5 billion.

International companies that vie for the most valuable spot in the world include PetroChina Co., the publicly traded unit of China’s biggest oil and gas company, and Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled energy company.

Exxon and GE traded the No. 1 and No. 2 spots until Microsoft beat them in 1999, at the height of the dot-com boom.

In late 1999, Exxon and Mobil Oil Co. merged to form Exxon Mobil.

GE took the top spot in 2000 and Exxon Mobil claimed it in 2005.

Marshall believes Apple may pass yet another milestone next year, when it’s likely to surpass Hewlett-Packard Co. as the world’s largest technology company by revenue. In the quarter that ended in April, HP reported $31.6 billion in revenue, compared with Apple’s $28.6 billion in the just-ended period. HP reports results for the May-July period next week.