Apple closes in on Exxon as world's most valuable firm

Apple Inc., a week after reporting record sales and profit, surpassed $400 a share for the first time and is gaining ground on Exxon Mobil Corp. to become the world's most valuable company.

The shares rose $4.91 to $403.41 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Apple has climbed 25 percent this year and 7 percent since the company reported third-quarter results on July 19.

Apple, on the brink of bankruptcy when Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs reclaimed the top job more than a decade ago, now has a bigger market value than Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. combined, fueled by new products such as the iPhone and iPad. Shares are up from a stock-adjusted $5.48 on Sept. 16, 1997, the day Jobs returned after his 1985 ouster.

The stock price gives Cupertino's Apple a market capitalization of about $374 billion, trailing by $41.6 billion the $416 billion value of Exxon, based in Irving, Texas.