Consumer electronics giant Apple (AAPL) has become the first company ever to reach a $3 trillion U.S. market capitalization.
Apple achieved the milestone during intraday trading on Monday (January 3) before falling back under the mark shortly afterwards. Apple broke the barrier when its share price reached $182.86 U.S.
In total, Apple’s stock rose 2.5% on Monday to close at $182.01 U.S., just missing closing the trading day above the $3 trillion U.S. mark. Apple’s shares are up in pre-market trading today (January 4) at $183.28 U.S.
At a market capitalization of $3 trillion U.S., Apple tripled its valuation in less than four years.
Apple showed annual growth across all its product categories in its most recent fourth-quarter earnings, with revenue up 29% year-over-year. While the iPhone is still the company’s biggest sales driver, Apple’s services business grew 25.6% year-over-year and delivered more than $18 billion U.S. in revenue during the quarter.
In recent weeks, investors have turned to Apple as a safe haven during market volatility thanks to its strong balance sheet and cash flow, which the company uses to invest in new products, share buybacks, and to return capital to shareholders through dividends.
Apple became the first publicly traded company to hit a $1 trillion U.S. market capitalization during intraday trading on August 2, 2018. It hit a $2 trillion U.S. valuation just over two years later on August 19, 2020.
Apple’s technology peers aren’t far behind it. Microsoft (MSFT) is currently worth about $2.5 trillion U.S., Amazon (AMZN) has about a $1.75 billion U.S. market value, and Google’s (GOOGL) market capitalization is just shy of $2 trillion U.S.
In all, Apple’s stock rose 34% during the course of 2021.
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