Four years ago, we reported on Apple’s historic achievement as the first U.S. company to reach a market valuation of $1 trillion on August 2, 2018. Since then, Apple’s market value has continued to soar, marking significant milestones along the way.
On August 19, 2021, Apple made history again by becoming the first publicly-traded company to achieve a $2 trillion market valuation. Just over a year later, in August 2022, Apple surpassed the $3 trillion mark in market capitalization. During intraday trading on a Monday, Apple’s shares broke the barrier of $182.86, contributing to its remarkable growth. This means that Apple has effectively tripled its valuation in less than four years.
As of recent reports, Apple’s market cap has now exceeded $3 trillion, reaching this milestone for the first time on Friday. CNBC’s latest share count indicates that Apple’s share price surpassed $190.73, which was the threshold required to achieve this remarkable feat.
To put this astounding achievement into perspective, Apple’s $3 trillion market capitalization represents about 75 percent of the U.S. federal government’s revenue in 2020. Furthermore, it accounts for roughly 15 percent of the total gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States for the same year, showcasing the sheer scale of Apple’s economic significance.
What’s behind Apple’s success?
Even amid a turbulent year in the technology sector, investors view Apple as one of the shining stars. Tech giants have been navigating a challenging landscape, focusing on doing more with fewer resources and striving for efficiency. This approach has led to significant layoffs, impacting thousands of employees across the industry. However, Apple has managed to stand out as a positive exception in this regard. Investors recognize Apple’s ability to navigate the changing landscape while maintaining stability and profitability, making it a beacon of success amidst the sector’s challenges.
“The Apple bears and skeptics continue to scratch their heads as many have called for Apple’s ‘broken growth story’ this year in a tougher backdrop to which we firmly believe the exact opposite has happened with Cupertino heading into a massive renaissance of growth over the next 12 to 18 months,” Dan Ives, a senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities, said in a note Friday.
“In our opinion, the Street has severely underestimated the massive installed base upgrade opportunity around iPhone 14 and now a mini super cycle iPhone 15 ahead with roughly 25% of Apple’s golden customer base not upgrading their iPhones in over 4 years,” he added.
Apple was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steven Paul Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Gerald Wayne. The Cupertino, California-based Apple is an American multinational technology corporation that designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications.
Apple is the world’s largest information technology company by revenue and the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer after Samsung. Apple was named the most admired company in the United States in 2008 and in the world from 2008 to 2012 by Fortune magazine.
Apple provides many products and services, including the iPhone; iPad; iPod; Mac; Apple TV; a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications; the iOS and OS X operating systems; iCloud; and accessories, service, and support offerings.
It sells its products worldwide through its retail stores, online stores, direct sales force, and third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers to the consumer and also sells third-party iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod compatible products, including application software and accessories through its online and retail stores.
Apple employs 123,000 full-time employees and maintains 499 retail stores in 22 countries as of December 2017. It operates the iTunes Store, which is the world’s largest music retailer. As of January 2016, more than one billion Apple products are actively in use worldwide.
