#Bendgate Fails To Dent As Apple’s Market Value Reaches $700 Billion

Notwithstanding the #bendgate scandal, iPhone 6 sales soared and is responsible for Apple's market value hitting $700 billion on Tuesday. Add as well the sale of the flagship in China.

With its intraday peak price of $119.75 on Nov 26, the market value of the Cupertino-based tech giant surpassed ExxonMobil's by almost $300 billion. It was also ahead of Microsoft and Google, which are both valued less than $400 billion, reports Financial Times.

However, Microsoft still holds the record of $874 billion if its 1999 peak of market capitalisation is adjusted for inflation. But based on current market cap, Apple is 1.78 times as big as the company behind Windows and 1.75 times Exxon's size, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And it is bigger than Google, Samsung, HTC, BlackBerry, Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, Cirrus Logic. SanDisk, Sony, Broadcom and Pandora Media combined.

Reckoned from the time that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs first announced the iPhone in January 2007, the shareprice of Apple has multiplied 10 times, while from January, the stock price has gone up by almost 50 percent or over 20 percent from the middle of October.

It is a long way from the $55 in April 2013, which improved to $100 in September of the same year.

A Goldman Sachs study found that many hedge fund managers have ploughed money back to Apple, which made the firm their top holding in Q3.

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Analysts foresee brighter days ahead for the company.

BTIG Research analyst Walt Piecyk told Financial Times, "The iPhone 6 excitement is driving investor enthusiasm so much that many have forgotten that management has hinted about new product categories not yet announced that could help in driving future earnings growth."

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White, in a note to investors on Monday, said, quoted by Bloomberg, "Given Apple's significant portfolio over the past three months, the lack of motivation from competitors and a constructive spending backdrop in the U.S. market, we believe Apple has opportunity to shine bright this holiday season."

New York-based Gary Goldberg Financial Services President Oliver Pursche said that as a tech firm, Apple is one of the most exciting with solid revenue earnings stream that are going forward.

It is not just Apple, but other technology stocks are doing well in the bourses as computer and software producers in Standard & Poor's 500 Index logged the third-largest gains among industries for 2014, which is the reason why Microsoft briefly overtook Exxon in early November before they switched back to their old rankings until Tuesday's strong Apple performance.

Experts said that if Apple's shareprice reaches $162, then it would mean the company has breached the $1 trillion dollar mark.