AAPL hits 52-week high

Perhaps it was the reports of huge volumes of iPads heading out the doors of retailers on Black Friday, or maybe it is Carl Icahn's shareholder proposal that's doing the trick. Whatever the case, shares of AAPL hit a 52-week high today, reaching US$575.14 at one point before retreating slightly.

While that's a great feat, the share price still hasn't recovered from the $700-per-share level reached on September 21, 2012. AAPL fell as low as $390 per share in April of 2013, then began a slow, but sure recovery in July.

With the new high for the year, the company's market value has now reached a whopping $515 billion, towering over the market cap of energy giant Exxon Mobil at around $412 billion. AAPL is now the world's most valuable publicly traded company again.