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Apple's stock crosses the $700 barrier

The company has had a strong run recently, and is now valued at nearly $655 billion.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
Roger Cheng
2 min read
Apple CEO Tim Cook has to be happy about the stock price. James Martin/CNET

Apple's stock ended on a high note, crossing $700 mark at the end of day, capping off a strong run over the summer.

Its share price closed up 1.2 percent to $699.78. In after-hours trading, it hovered above $700 for a few minutes. It last traded at $699.80.

Apple gave investors another reason to cheer today when it said the pre-orders for the iPhone 5 topped 2 million in the first 24 hours, more than doubling the 1 million iPhone 4S pre-orders from nearly a year ago. AT&T chimed in to say it saw record pre-orders over the weekend, while Sprint Nextel told CNET that its orders had quickly hit expectations.

The announcement already has some analysts scrambling to raise their estimates for iPhone sales.

While the $700 mark is a significant psychological benchmark, it doesn't mean much to the value of the company, which is measured by its market capitalization. Apple is worth $654.81 billion, and last month set the record for being the most valuable company of all time.

Apple's stock has largely ignored the convention of selling on the news, continuing to rise after the announcement of the iPhone 5. After a brief dip heading into the summer, the stock has had a strong run over the last few months and is up by roughly a third since May.

The stock could also be rising in anticipation of a smaller iPad, which some had expected to be announced last week. Instead, many believe that the company will unveil the so-called iPad Mini next month.