Apple Crosses $500

NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Apple(AAPL) shares hit $500 for the first time Monday morning, gaining strength on a new reputation study which ranked the iPhone maker as the top American brand.

Apple passed last year's winner, Google(GOOG), in the Harris Interactive survey.

Shares of Apple have risen nearly 25% this year and added $100 billion in market cap -- the potential equivalent of Facebook -- since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

Apple also said on Monday that the Fair Labor Association will conduct audits of the company's Chinese supplier network, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu. The audits come after allegiations that Apple suppliers committed labor abuses such as knowingly hiring underage workers and forcing employees to work continuous shifts and extended overtime.

--Written by Olivia Oran in New York.

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