Apple has overtaken PetroChina Co. to become the second-biggest company in the world by market value, lifted by investors betting on growth prospects for the Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad, reports “Bloomberg” (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-23/apple-becomes-world-s-second-most-valuable-company.html?).
Apple, valued at $265.8 billion, trails Exxon Mobil Corp., which was worth $313.3 billion as of 2:53 p.m. (Eastern). PetroChina is valued at $265.5 billion.
“There’s no reason at all Apple can’t grow much, much bigger,” Jane Snorek, an analyst with Minneapolis-based First American Funds (which has more than $100 billion under management, with Apple as its largest technology holding) told “Bloomberg.” Apple still has a small portion of the market for phones and computers, she said.