Google parent company becomes most valuable in world

SAN FRANCISCO

Alphabet, the parent company of Internet giant Google, surpasses the market value of rival Apple on Tuesday to become the world’s most valuable publically traded company.

Alphabet opened with a market cap of $547.1 billion compared to Apple’s $529.3 billion.

By Tuesday afternoon, Alphabet’s shares were up more than 18 percent to nearly $771 per share, although the market cap drifted below Apple’s hours after markets opened.

Apple and Alphabet are trailed by Microsoft, Facebook and Exxon Mobile to round out the top five most valuable companies on the planet.

The last time Google surpassed Apple’s market cap was February 2010, when both companies were worth less than $200 billion and the iPad tablet had yet to be released.

Google reported earnings Monday afternoon for the first time under the Alphabet name, the umbrella company Google unveiled in a restructuring last year.

Alphabet posted $4.9 billion in profit for the final quarter of 2015, a 5 percent increase from the same period last year.

Revenue rose 18 percent to $21.3 billion, besting analyst revenue expectations of $16.9 billion.

“Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we've been investing for many years,” Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chief financial officer, said in a release regarding the earnings report Monday. “We're excited about the opportunities we have across Google and Other Bets to use technology to improve the lives of billions of people.”

Analysts believe Alphabet stock will rise even further in the near future, with Deutsche Bank’s Ross Sandler claiming in a client note Tuesday that the stock “is likely to grind to $1,000+”.

Apple had a rocky earnings call last week, with sluggish sales of the iPhone 6S disappointing analysts.