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Apple closes at a record $699.78, 22¢ shy of $700

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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September 17, 2012, 5:12 PM ET
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FORTUNE — It seems the drumbeat of positive news for Apple (AAPL) — the Samsung verdict, the iPhone 5, the 2 million pre-orders, the rumors of new products in the wings — was finally too much for the Apple bears.

On Monday, the company’s share price shot right up to and, in after-hours trading, finally broke through the psychological barrier of $700 a share.

Although the stock is up nearly 75% over the past 12 months, the company is still relatively cheap by the standards of the S&P 500.

Apple is sitting on a bigger cash hoard ($117 billion) than any company in the world, and the 60% growth rate its earnings have racked up over the past 5 years can hardly be compared with the S&P 500’s -1.66%.

Yet even after the stock’s recent run-up, Apple’s trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45 still hasn’t caught up to the S&P 500’s 16.50.

Google’s (GOOG) trailing P/E ratio, for the record, is 21.05. Facebook’s (FB) is 74.46 and Amazon’s (AMZN) is 314.25.

Go figure.

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By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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