Apple's market cap could conceivably exceed ExxonMobil's

If Apple (AAPL) shares increase by 30% to $450, it’s stock-market value would then surpass ExxonMobil's (XOM), making it the most valuable company on earth. Barron’s Technology Trader columnist Tiernan Ray says, there is a plausible path to seeing the shares rise into the ExxonMobil neighborhood, but it is the awesome scale of Apple that lately seems to sharpen for some investors all the things that could go wrong. To hit a $450 price target at its current multiple, Apple would have to produce something on the order of $31 per share in earnings, assuming its cash per share rises to more like $86 in the coming year. That's not impossible, says Ray. Projected EPS next year is around $26. The iPad alone may produce an additional $3.00 or more per share in earnings, based on a net profit margin in the high teens. If that business turns out better than expected, Ray says it's possible for 2012 earnings to be at least a couple of dollars higher. Similarly, the expectation for iPhone sales of perhaps 60M-70M units this year doesn't seem to fully reflect Apple's opportunity, notes Ray. For Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White, who has the highest price target on the Street, at $550, there is plenty of upside. White notes that Apple's computer market share is still just 4% to 5%, leaving plenty of business to be won. And then there's the iTV. "I think it's reasonable to assume Apple could introduce their own branded television set in the next 12 to 18 months. That's a hundred-billion-dollar-per-year market right there."