The Wall Street beat-down continued for Apple on Friday as shares of AAPL traded lower (all the way down to $440) following Wednesday’s disappointing earnings report.
But this morning, Apple lost something more than just the confidence of some investors. Apple also lost its lofty position as the world’s most profitable company.
Exxon Mobil – which was reduced to #2 by Apple last year – has now reclaimed its crown as the most valuable company in the world by way of its market cap.
Forrester analyst Charles Golvin seems to suggest that news of Apple’s continued decline isn’t a shocker.
“It’s a reality check on inflated expectations,” Golvin says of Apple’s curtailed market cap. “I don’t think it’s a portent or a harbinger of diminished impact of Apple on the market.” Golvin just doesn’t believe that Apple is outpacing its rivals in the way that it used to.
“While they are still an 800 pound gorilla and bringing tremendous innovation and new experiences to consumers,” he concludes, “others are starting to catch up to them a little bit and having some influence where they didn’t before.”
