fortune

Apple is again Fortune's most admired company

Apple is the world's most admired company, at least in the eyes of executives polled by Fortune magazine.

For the sixth year in a row, Apple took home top honors for the title, this year scoring 8.24 on Fortune's ranking system, ahead of Google with a score of 8.01 and Amazon with 7.28.

Apple was deemed the most admired despite recent concerns over the company's performance.

Its stock has tanked 35 percent since September as investors and analysts fret that Apple's best days may be behind it. But the company still rates as … Read more

Twitter's valuation said to hit $9.9 billion

Everyone wants to know what Twitter is worth, and while a number of recent reports have pegged the company's valuation as high as $11 billion, or as low as $9 billion, it now seems that the real number is in the middle, at just under $10 billion.

According to Fortune, a new block of early employee shares, currently for sale, price Twitter at a valuation of $9.9 billion. "The shares were secured by a fund affiliated with Gentry Venture Partners, which has been pitching the deal to clients," Fortune wrote. "It would seem the premium … Read more

The next LG Optimus leaks

The next LG Optimus may have leaked!

This week Fortune debuted a list of the 100 best companies to work for. Google took the No. 1 spot while Microsoft checked in at No. 75. Wireless tech company Qualcomm took the 11 spot while chip manufacturer Intel showed up at 68.

Details of a high-powered version of LG's Optimus G have apparently leaked online. A slide sent to Engadget teases a new LG phone with a 5-inch 1080p display, a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, 13-megapixel rear camera, and 32 GB of on-board storage. There's no word yet on which … Read more

Amazon's Bezos is Fortune's businessperson of the year

Jeff Bezos, who has run Amazon at a loss the past two quarters has been dubbed Fortune's businessperson of 2012.

Amazon's quirky CEO has worried Wall Street by spending heavily on new warehouses and employees for the holiday rush and investing in new business overseas. The spending alone wouldn't be cause for concern had the company been able to turn a profit these days.

After several years in the black, Amazon posted losses over the past two quarters. For the third quarter ended September, the retail giant lost $274 million, compared with a net profit of $63 … Read more

Apple is No. 8 on Fortune's list of fastest-growing companies

Despite competition from Android, Apple is doing just fine, at least according to Fortune's list of the fastest-growing companies around the world.

Apple came in third on the list of the top 100 companies with a three-year average growth in profit of 70 percent and a gain in sales of 52 percent. Over the past year, Apple's stock price has soared 80 percent, helping it to become the biggest company in the U.S. based on market value.

The one disappointment cited by Fortune was Apple's fiscal 2012 third quarter when earnings and iPhone sales were lower than Wall Street expected. … Read more

AT&T CEO says too early to talk about FaceTime pricing

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the company is still in talks with Apple concerning the data-gobbling FaceTime service, following a rumor reported earlier today that AT&T has plans to charge for the use of FaceTime over its network.

When asked about it at a Fortune conference today, Stephenson skillfully skirted the issue, saying it's too preliminary for talk about pricing information.

"It's too early. We're working with Apple right now to work out stabilizing -- it's too early to talk about pricing," he said before moving on to another topic. … Read more

Thiel tells Schmidt: 'Google is out of ideas'

ASPEN, Colo. -- Two titans of industry took to the stage at a dinner and debate event here attended by a few hundred entrepreneurs and techie types, but the sparks that flew were more befitting of a program with a title beginning with "Real Housewives of..."

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and super-investor Peter Thiel took aim at each other over the seemingly benign topic of the role of technology in society on the opening night of the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, with moderator Adam Lashinsky of Fortune attempting to moderate, often in vain.… Read more

Apple zooms to No. 17 on Fortune 500 list, tops IBM

Apple's is movin' on up the Fortune 500 list, passing computer heavyweight IBM.

Apple landed at No. 17, up from No. 35, in terms of 2011 revenue, which was a cool $108.2 billion.

To put Apple's meteoric rise into perspective, blue-chip tech stalwart IBM dropped one spot to No. 19, with 2011 revenues of $106.9 billion.

And Hewlett-Packard is also feeling the heat from Apple. Though Apple's Silicon Valley neighbor moved up one spot to No. 10, with revenue of $127.2 billion, HP is not the profit juggernaut that Apple is.

Apple was No.… Read more

Apple again tops Fortune's list of most admired companies

Apple is once again tops in the eyes of the business world, according to Fortune.

The iPhone maker took the lead as the world's most admired company for the fifth year in a row.

Selected No. 1 by business professionals polled for Fortune's annual list, Apple was cited for its banner year. CEO Tim Cook was able to steer the company after the resignation and death of Steve Jobs to end 2012 with a prosperous fourth quarter thanks to heavy demand for the iPhone 4s.

Trailing in second place was Google, which went through its own transition last … Read more