Apple's 2012 profits forecast to be highest of any public company ever

The Wall Street analyst suggests that Apple could generate the highest annual net income of any publicly traded company in history this year.

As of Monday morning, Apple's market cap was at about $545 billion. Some Wall Street analyst have noted a rather interesting trend amongthe largest companies. Companies that exceed $500 billion in market capitalization have trouble growing much beyond that point.  The analysts are concerned that a similar scenario could happen with Apple.

But Brian White with Topeka Capital Markets does believe that Apple's market cap potential in trillions of dollars, not billions.

"We went back and analyzed five U.S.-based companies that at one time enjoyed market capitalizations of (about) $500 billion or more, but found little similarities with Apple," he wrote.

Those five companies were Cisco Systems, Exxon-Mobile, General Electric, Intel, and Microsoft. With the exception of Exxon, these companies had rich price-to-earnings ratios when they crossed the $500 billion mark. But Apple does not have a stranglehold on most markets where it competes. Instead, there is plenty of room for growth in the booming smartphone market.

White expects that in calendar year 2012, Apple is poised to generate the highest profits of any publicly traded company ever. Compared to the "big three" technology companies that have exceeded a $500 billion market cap, he believes Apple's net income will over six times higher on an individual basis to when those companies were at their respective peaks.