Apple Inc. (AAPL): Eight Things Investors Could Have Bought With What They’ve Lost

1 Japanese tsunami
The horrific tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 resulted in approximately $210 billion in damages. That figure covered only the first nine months of 2011 and has inevitably climbed since those estimates. With the $76 billion Apple shareholders have left over, they should be able to cover the rest, too.

8 NFLs
Forbes recently came out with its 2012 valuations of all 32 teams in the NFL. Adding up every single team’s franchise value sums up to $35.4 billion, meaning Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s lost value could cover eight entire NFLs. However, in this case, Apple could be getting something in return, since all teams combined generated an estimated $8.8 billion in revenue last year. With eight NFLs, that would be $70.4 billion in annual revenue, which still wouldn’t match the iPhone business alone, which has generated $85.4 billion in sales over the past year.

371 Mona Lisas
The Mona Lisa is, of course, priceless, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying to figure out its worth. The main way people have attempted to value the historic painting is through a 1962 insurance assessment, which pegged its value at $100 million at the time. Adjusting for inflation using the CPI translates that total into $770 million, making the Mona Lisa probably the most valuable painting in the world. Even so, Apple shareholders could theoretically purchase 371 of Leonardo Da Vinci’s timeless masterpiece.

There’s more where that came from
Of course, the list of things that $286 billion could pay for is well beyond the scope of this article. If Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) falls further, its market cap losses from the peak could easily approach or top $300 billion. What would you buy with what Apple shareholders have lost?

The article 8 Things Apple Investors Could Have Bought With What They’ve Lost originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Evan Niu, CFA.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Netflix and owns shares of Apple, Microsoft, and Netflix.

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