Apple makes history with $700bn valuation

New York - Apple became the first company to reach a market value of $700bn on Tuesday as shares vaulted amid upbeat news on the US tech giant's gains in the smartphone market and soon-to-arrive smart watch.

Shares rose 1.9% to close at $122.02, lifting Apple's market value to $710bn, and making it the first company to hit the milestone.

Brian White, analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said the tech company has even more room to grow.

"Given Apple's powerful iPhone cycle, a big 4G ramp in China and the upcoming launch of Apple Watch in April, we believe there is still plenty to look forward to at Apple during this transformational cycle," he said in a note to clients.

"At the same time, we believe Apple's valuation has room to expand from depressed levels."

Apple shares remain valued at reasonable levels, according to analysts, because of the whopping $18bn quarterly profit reported recently by the iPhone and iPad maker.

Record profit

Using the price-earnings ratio favoured by Wall Street, Apple is valued at around 16 times its annual earnings, but Fitzgerald said the value was only around 10 times the projected earnings for the next fiscal year.

Apple is far ahead in market value from the number two company, oil giant Exxon Mobil, worth some $382bn at the market close.

The record Apple quarterly profit - on unprecedented revenue of $74.6bn - was driven by the sale of 74.5 million iPhones, well ahead of most analysts' expectations.

Analysts are also seeing expanded adoption of the Apple Pay system that enables customers to purchase items with a tap of their iPhone, and many predict strong demand for the Apple Watch set for release in April.

Separately, Apple agreed to commit $848m for solar energy to power its data centres, according to a statement from First Solar.

Apple will receive electricity from 130MW under a 25-year power purchase agreement, "the largest agreement in the industry to provide clean energy to a commercial end user," the solar firm said.

Apple unveiled plans earlier this month to pump $2bn over the coming decade into a solar-powered data centre "global command" facility in the southwest state of Arizona.