Things Apple is Worth More Than

Apple is Bigger than the Entire 1977 US Stock Market

Yup.

Here’s S&P’s Howard Silverblatt via Brendan Conway at Barron’s:

Apple is trading at a new high of $695 per share (old high was $685.50), with a total market value of $651.5 billion.  When I started at S&P in May of 1977 the entire market value of the S&P 500 was $623 billion (T was #1 with $38B, then IBM, XON, GM and GE – EK was #6 and S, which was Sears, was #7).  It was not until August of 1978 that the index reached the $650 mark (when IBM was #1 with $43B, then T, XON, GM, GE, EK at #6, with S down to #9) – now, 34 years later, one company is $650 billion.  So in October of 2046 will some issue be worth $13.9 trillion? FYI – the Aug,1978 to Sep,2012 full market value growth calculates to a 9.3% annualized rate (I have an app that calculates it – it called a hp12c, circa 1981, when T was back to being #1 in market value).

Okay then!

Annual Prescription Drug Sales in the United States

For the year of 2010*, total prescription drug sales in the United States amounted to 307 billion dollars. The top 20 prescription drugs by sales came to 78.3 billion dollars in 2010. Apple, with a market cap of 621 billion dollars, is worth more than two years of medications. With revenue north of 100 billion a year, Apple generates more sales than the top 20 drugs on the market.

*- growth runs around 2-3% annually, using best available numbers

-GYSC

Apple is Worth More than 300 Years of Irish Beer Consumption

The Irish people drink 91 litres of beer per head annually. That works out to almost 275 million pints of beer every year.  If the average pint is a little over 4 GBP (or 7 dollars), we’re talking almost $2 billion a year.

With Apple’s market cap now t $550,000,000, it is worth the annual beer consumption of Ireland - 300 times over! 

Happy St. Patricks Day from Josh and GYSC!

The Construction of the Interstate Highway System

One of the more ambitious public works projects ever done in the United States was the construction of the Interstate Highway System. Over 35 years from 1956 to 1991, some 47 thousand miles of highway were built with the program at an estimated cost of 477 billion dollars (estimates in 1996 dollars, 2006, and 2009; inflation adjusted). With a market cap of 487 billion dollars, Apple is worth more than the construction of the highways across America.

-GYSC

Apple Is Worth More Than 1 Billion iPads

OK, this one gets a little meta, but bear with me…

Today Apple stock finally crossed over the $500 per share mark, meaning that a single share now costs more than an iPad2 (which starts at $499.00 on Apple’s website.

Put another way, the entire market cap of Apple would buy you just a smidge over $1 billion iPads - just in case you were playing Santa Claus to the entire galaxy or something!

hat tip @checkoutjared

The United States Aircraft Carrier Fleet

The aircraft carrier is the ultimate expression of the ability for a nation to project military power globally. The United States operates 10 Nimitz class aircraft carriers. At a cost of $4.5 billion dollars each, the 10 carriers cost roughly $50 billion dollars to build and develop. Over the next 30 years the US Navy will move to to the Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier. Each is expected to cost $9 billion dollars. Assuming complete replacement, over $90 billion dollars will be spent to procure the next generation carriers. With a market cap of over $450 billion, Apple is worth more than the symbols of US military power projection a few times over.

(NOTE: This covers the cost of the carriers themselves. What makes them special are the crews and operational personnel, and that cannot be measured in dollars.)

-GYSC

Retail Sales of Electricity in the United States

Retail sales of electricity amounted to $350 billion dollars in 2009 (Last completed survey by US Energy Administration). With a market capitalization of over $400 billion, Apple is worth more than all the money spent powering gadgets for an entire year in the United States.

-GYSC

(Source: economicdisconnect)

Worldwide Lottery Sales

Worldwide lottery sales amounted to 240 billion dollars in 2009 (best free statistics available). Assuming even 10-15% growth to 2011 year end, Apple’s 400 billion market cap engulfs the money spent on hopeful thinking.

-GYSC

The Global Coffee Industry

The global coffee industry employ some 25 million people and generates $70 billion dollars a year. With a market cap of over $400 billion, Apple is worth more than 5 years of the coffee industry. In addition, Apple’s $46 billion in revenue in the last quarter eclipses the United States coffee industry value, estimated at $19 billion.

-GYSC

The United States Beef Consumption

The retail value of consumed beef in the U.S. was 74 Billion dollars in 2010. 26.4 billion pounds were consumed. At a market cap of 390 billion, Apple is worth more than all the steaks and cook out goodies for an entire year in the United States.

-GYSC

The Only Thing Bigger

The only thing bigger than Apple was Steve Jobs. 

He was our Galileo, our Da Vinci, our Edison and our Franklin…yet somehow more because he was here and now, changing how we lived our lives today.

Goodbye Steve, and thank you for everything.

www.apple.com

Four American Civil Wars

The United States Civil War was the most terrible conflict in American history. Casualties for the Civil War amounted to more American casualties than all other American wars combined.

The entire country stopped and fought for 4 long years. Estimates for the cost of the Civil War range from 75 Billion to 84 Billion. While the cost in lives lost cannot be measured, Apple with a market cap of 360 Billion is worth more than 4 American Civil Wars.

-GYSC

Two Entire Apollo Space Programs

 

 

The space race was one of the most public and contested conflicts of the Cold War. The United States, having decided that beating the Soviet Union to the Moon was in the nations best interest, pushed forward with a Moon landing no matter the cost.

The Apollo Space Program was given top priority and spending was fast track approved. The final cost of the project was (inflation adjusted) 145-170 billion dollars. Apple at 370 billion is worth more than two entire Apollo space programs.

-GYSC

The Entire National Football League - Times Ten

The annual NFL football franchise valuations list has just been released by Forbes (full list here).  This year - for the first time ever - the average franchise in the league is worth over a billion dollars.

15 of the NFL’s 33 franchises are worth over a billion apiece.  The most valuable team is the Dallas Cowboys, valued at $1.85 billion.

If you added up all the value of every team in the NFL, you’d come up with some $33 billion as your total.  With Apple’s current market cap of roughly $380 billion, it is worth more than ten times that!

The United States Automotive Aftermarket

The automotive aftermarket includes:

”..all products and services purchased for light and heavy duty vehicles after the original sale including replacement parts, accessories, lubricants, appearance products, tires, collision repairs, service repairs as well as the tools and equipment necessary to make the repair.”

According to the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), it is valued at $285 billion and employs approximately 4.5 million people.

$380 Billion has it covered.

-GYSC