Among Us and the crazy April fool at a gallop
Today is the first of April, and that means only one thing: the day will be full of absurd news from all fronts and from all over the globe. The videogame industry, of course, is no exception: this is the case of Among Us, the famous title for PC and mobile that in 2020 has become one of the most popular games ever, achieving incredible results. Let's see what the developers have in store for us today.AMONG US - HORSE MODE
one year ago we asked "what if?" and now we can say: "ha ha wait OH NO STOP."
starting now for one day only, this free cursed mode is available to play as part of our April Fools celebration
we 're not sorry pic.twitter.com/ZuP4cJtuL9
- Among Us (@AmongUsGame) April 1, 2022
For the April Fool's Day of quest year, the developers introduced Horse Mode, which as the name suggests, has to do with horses. In practice, throughout the day today, during our games it will be possible to impersonate a new character that is not the typical astronaut, that is… a horse. Or something like that.
As can be seen from the tweet above, it is evident that the developers are aware of how absurd such an addition can be, and they are also quite proud of it (as it is right that it is). It is the first time that this mode makes its debut in the game, while in 2020 and in 2021 for the first of April on Among Us the map "ehT dlekS" was introduced, which was literally an inverted version, both in name and in fact, of the 'original “The Skeld”.
This is probably just one of the next jokes coming today, which for us Europeans will last for many hours yet. Already now Among Us is certainly not the only one to have carried out such actions: to date there has also been the announcement of the arrival of ten new titles by an important software house. Incidentally, these kinds of days are taken so seriously that now it is hard to understand if an important news regarding Metal Gear is real or if it is the result of a simple troll.
If you are a fan of Among Us, then you can't miss this themed plush.
5 fantastic & fascinating facts about Apple stock (AAPL)!
Without doubt, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the most successful company in modern financial history. Today, its market valuation, revenues, cash flow, and earnings are among the highest of any company ever. What’s more, owners of Apple stock have made more money in total than any other group of shareholders in history. So here are five fantastic and fascinating facts about the world’s biggest Big Tech company.
1. Apple stock was briefly worth $3trnExactly a week ago, on 4 January, Apple stock soared to an all-time record. At its intra-day high, the Apple share price peaked at $182.94, before easing back to close at $179.70. At its peak, Apple’s market value exceeded $3trn. This made it the world’s first company to reach this jaw-dropping valuation. However, Apple’s stock price has since retreated and stands at $171.25 as I write. This values the consumer-electronic Goliath at $2.8trn, which still makes it the #1 corporation worldwide by market value. Mind-blowing, huh?
2. AAPL is worth more than the German stock marketIt took Apple more than four decades to become a $1trn company, hitting this mark in August 2018. With two years, on 19 August 2020, it first reached a $2trn valuation. Earlier this month, it first hit hit the $3trn mark. Even after losing $200bn of market value in a week, Apple at $2.8trn is worth slightly more than the entire German stock market. The total value of all German-listed companies is around $2.4trn, which Apple’s value exceeds by roughly $400bn. Wow.
3. $1,000 in Apple stock five years ago is now worth nearly $6,000Five years ago, on 13 January 2017, the Apple stock price closed at $29.76. Today, at $171.25, it is over 5.75 times as much. In fact, had I invested $1,000 in Apple stock five years ago, I would have over $5,754 today. That’s a market-thrashing return of 475.4% in five years — and this ignores all cash dividends paid by Apple to shareholders since January 2017. Crikey.
4. Apple took under 16 months to add $1trn in market valueIt took Apple 42 years to reach a $1trn market value and two years for this to double. Remarkably, despite the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic, it took Apple stock less than 16 months to add another $1trn to its already-towering valuation. Clearly, the old City of London saying that “elephants don’t gallop” doesn’t applied to Apple — at least so far. Crazy.
5. Apple’s earnings multiple has almost quadrupled in five yearsNow for a slightly frightening fundamental figure from Apple. As a consumer-goods powerhouse, Apple’s fundamental ratings have soared in recent years. Five years ago, the ratio of Apple’s enterprise value (market value plus net debt) to revenues was a healthy two times. Today, this valuation measure has almost quadrupled to nearly eight times revenues. Also, Apple’s price-to-earnings ratio now exceeds 30 times, compared to roughly 10 times five years ago. In other words, Apple’s revenues and earnings have never been as highly valued as they are in 2022. Ooh.
I would not buy Apple stock todayFinally, I don’t own Apple stock, but would I buy AAPL at its current lofty valuation? I would hate to bet against the world’s most successful company, but I expect stock markets to have a weak 2022. Hence, I’d rather look for value among lowly rated FTSE 100 stocks paying juicy dividends. I would rather bet on value than backing go-go growth stocks as global interest rates creep up!