In yet another remarkable achievement, Apple, the tech giant known for its revolutionary products and impressive profitability, has made history by becoming the first publicly traded company to achieve a market value of $3 trillion. This milestone solidifies Apple’s position as a dominant force in the technology industry and showcases its remarkable growth and success.
On Friday, Apple shares closed at $193.97, marking a 2.3% increase and pushing the company’s market value to an unprecedented $3.04 trillion. Alongside other tech powerhouses like Microsoft and Nvidia, Apple has played a pivotal role in driving the S&P 500, which recorded an impressive gain of nearly 16% in the first half of the year.
Founded by the legendary Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley 47 years ago, Apple briefly surpassed the $3 trillion mark in January 2022 but was unable to sustain that position by the market close. Following this setback, the company experienced a decline in its stock price, temporarily falling below a $2 trillion market value earlier this year. Factors such as decelerating growth and investor concerns about rising interest rates, affecting the entire tech sector, contributed to this decline.
However, earlier this month, Apple once again approached the $3 trillion threshold, fueled by the announcement of its potentially groundbreaking product, the Vision Pro—a high-priced virtual reality headset that immerses users in artificial settings. While the achievement of reaching a $3 trillion market value holds symbolic significance, its sheer magnitude is undeniably awe-inspiring.
To put the $3 trillion figure into perspective, it could purchase nearly 9 million homes in the United States, based on the average sales price calculated by Zillow. Alternatively, it could acquire the 50 most valuable sports teams globally, with considerable change remaining. If this sum were distributed equally among the population of the United States, each person would receive approximately $9,000.
Following Apple’s ascent, Microsoft takes the second position as the second-most valuable public company, with a market value of $2.5 trillion, while oil giant Saudi Aramco closely follows at $2.08 trillion. Other notable companies such as Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Amazon, and Nvidia boast market values surpassing $1 trillion.
The journey from $2 trillion to $3 trillion took Apple less than two years, an extraordinary feat considering it took around two years to reach the $2 trillion milestone after initially crossing the $1 trillion mark in August 2021. These successive trillions are a testament to the technological empire Apple has built since Steve Jobs’ return to the company in 1997, after being ousted by then-CEO John Sculley in 1985. At that time, Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy and sought assistance from its once-rival, Microsoft.
Apple’s immense profitability allows the company to allocate $105 billion annually towards investor dividends and stock repurchases. Even after these substantial expenditures, the company retains nearly $56 billion in cash at the end of each fiscal quarter.
The iPhone, introduced by Steve Jobs in 2007, remains the crown jewel in Apple’s product lineup. In the past year alone, the iPhone accounted for over 50% of the company’s impressive sales, amounting to nearly $400 billion. Apple also generates revenue from other products such as the Macintosh computer, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and a services division encompassing music and video streaming, warranty programs, fees from the iPhone app store, and advertising commissions paid by Google for being the default search engine on the iPhone.
While many of Apple’s groundbreaking innovations were conceived during Steve Jobs’ tenure, a significant portion of its wealth has been generated under the leadership of its current CEO, Tim Cook. Cook assumed the CEO position shortly before Jobs’ passing in October 2011 when Apple’s market value stood at $350 billion. Under Cook’s stewardship, Apple has continued to thrive and redefine the boundaries of technological innovation.
