Apple market cap hits $2 trillion
Apple became the first publicly traded US company to be priced at $2 trillion on Wednesday, a significant achievement that demonstrates the company’s ability to survive following Steve Jobs’ death.
As gathered by Daily Times, Apple first reached a $1 trillion market cap on Aug. 2, 2018. Wall Street has largely expected the iPhone maker to become the first to surpass $2 trillion. On July 31, Apple passed the state oil giant Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
It didn’t take long for other tech giants Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet to match Apple’s $1 trillion market cap.
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Apple shares are up about 60% year to date, pushing through the coronavirus pandemic that has battered many companies. In the past year, shares have risen more than 120%.
The company posted a historically strong third quarter in late July, including $59.7 billion in revenue and double-digit growth in its products and services. Apple saw widespread retail closures during the quarter, especially in the United States but said work-from-home trends and strong online sales boosted overall operations.
While the mark is largely symbolic, it does underscore CEO Tim Cook’s success at changing the company’s story. Investors have started seeing Apple’s business less like other hardware makers and more like a software company, as indicated by Apple’s quickly rising price-earnings ratio, which is now over 33.
Jobs was seen as a visionary but the new CEO, Tim Cook, who replaced him, has managed to boost the company ‘s profitability more than anyone thought possible.
