Alphabet Market Value Super Apple: Analysis says that leading position is difficult to maintain

Sina Technology News Beijing time on February 3 morning news, Google's parent company Alphabet has surpassed Apple's market value, but market analysts believe that in this "war", Alphabet may not necessarily win.

After Alphabet’s earnings report on Monday, 31 analysts raised their target price, and they set a median target price of $924, which means that the market value of Alphabet may reach $628 billion over the next 12 months. In contrast, 49 analysts set a median target price of $135 for Apple, which would allow the company's market value to reach $748.5 billion over the next 12 months.

At the same time, if calculated according to the target price set by analysts who are most optimistic about the prospects of Alphabet, the company's market capitalization may reach $734 billion in the next 12 months; and by the same standard, Apple's market value may reach 1.1. One trillion US dollars, thus becoming the first listed company with a market value of more than 1 trillion US dollars.

Billionaire radical investor Carl Icahn said in May last year that Apple was "substantially undervalued" and its share price should reach $240. At this price, Apple's market capitalization will reach about $1.3 trillion.

Alphabet's share price rose 4.4% to $804.50 on Tuesday, and the company's market capitalization reached $546.5 billion, making it the world's most market-worthy company. Apple's share price fell 1.2% to $95.28, and the company's market capitalization was $528 billion. But for Alphabet, it may be difficult to keep this lead.


With the decline of giants such as IBM, Alphabet and Apple have long been competing for the title of the company with the highest market value. In the past year, Alphabet's share price has risen sharply by 43%; on the other hand, Apple is facing difficulties because of weak demand for iPhone, especially from China. In addition, Apple is also clearly lacking another fist product. Apple's share price fell last week due to disappointing quarterly results, and the company has not been able to reverse this momentum during this week's trading.

However, although Apple's share price has fallen by about 18% in the past year, the company's upcoming iPhone 7 release in September may stimulate a sudden increase in iPhone sales, thereby boosting its share price. In contrast, Alphabet's growth is expected to be more gradual, and its growth momentum will come from the growth of mobile search and the commercialization of YouTube.

To be exact, analysts still hold a optimistic stance on both companies, and no one analyst has rated one of the stocks as "sell" or a comparable rating.

Based on current stock price calculations, Apple's 12-month forward P/E ratio is 10.59 times and Alphabet is 22.47 times, which is considered to be the most expensive stock in the technology industry.

Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Sandler is the Wall Street analyst who is most optimistic about the prospects of Alphabet. He released a research report on Tuesday, raising his target price from $900 to $1080. The most optimistic about Apple's stock is Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White, who set the company's target price at $200.