Outperforming the GDP of how many countries in the world? Probably more than a few states in the US combined.
Not comparable. . . but net worth is probably much higher if one does not count net untapped natural resources of those nations. Market Cap is liquidation of capital valuation if all the stock is sold at once, which would never happen.
It's not book value, or even any real value. It's what the investors (call them gamblers) of Wall Street all agree the value of the stock (ownership) of Apple Inc is worth. Essentially is a market agreement (the price at which a willing seller and a willing buyer to exchange a share) of the exact moment that a single share of AAPL stock is selling for times the number of shares in existence. . . a purely artificial figure.
Mad Money host Jim Cramer said of Apple's valuation:
Apple is valued like a ‘sturdy, cyclical industrial’ at just over 17 times next year’s earnings estimates. Instead, he said, it should be on par with top consumer goods stocks, which tend to trade at mid-20s multiples,” Gurdus reports. “‘In fact, [Apple] should be covered by the same analysts that cover a Procter & Gamble, a Clorox, a PepsiCo, a Colgate, because if it were, I could argue it should be valued at well north of $280 instead of about $200, where it is right now,’ the Mad Money host said… ‘The organic growth of these so-called steady-eddie companies is nowhere near that of Apple,’ he said of the consumer packaged goods plays. ‘The cash return to shareholders is nowhere near that of Apple. The brand loyalty is nowhere near that of Apple. The worldwide pervasiveness is fractional versus Apple. That’s how I could explain how the stock should have a $300 target, not a $200 target, which I think it’ll eclipse tomorrow,’ he continued.”