Alphabet tops Apple as most valuable

Parent company of Google worth $554B, wallops Q4 estimates

Alphabet vaulted Apple to become the most valuable company in the U.S. in after-hours trading on Monday, rousting the iPhone maker from the perch it held for more than four years.

Alphabet shares jumped 6% after Google’s parent reported estimate-topping fourth-quarter results after the bell. Its combined share classes were then worth $554 billion, surpassing Apple, which had a value of about $534 billion and whose shares were down slightly after hours.

Alphabet will officially supplant Apple in market value if the two companies open at those levels Tuesday.

“Google is in the pole position,” BGC analyst Colin Gillis said.

Gillis credited accelerating revenue growth, expense control and a capital return to shareholders via a share repurchase program. He says Alphabet is positioned to be the first company on a U.S. listed exchange to be worth $1 trillion. “The core business is cranking along and picking up speed,” he said.

Apple nabbed the bragging rights as the most valuable company in the U.S. in 2012 from Exxon Mobil. At one point in early 2015, Apple was worth more than $760 billion. But Apple has yet to come up with another blockbuster product while Alphabet

continues to reign in the lucrative Internet search advertising market while pressing forward in video and mobile advertising, causing its stock to surge.

Alphabet earned $8.67 a share in the fourth quarter, well above expectations of $8.09 a share. Revenues clocked in at $21.32 billion, surpassing estimates of $20.76 billion.

For the first time Alphabet disclosed revenue, operating income and other key metrics for its main Google business separately from its “other bets” going back to 2013.

Last year Alphabet separated its main Google business from its longer-term, more speculative projects such as smart gadget maker Nest and speedy broadband provider Fiber. The company said its “other bets” category had revenue of $448 million and a loss of $3.6 billion.

The company said its “other bets” category — including projects such as Nest — had revenue of $448 million and a loss of $3.6 billion.