Consumer electronics giant Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is closing in on a $3-trillion U.S. market capitalization.
The milestone valuation comes just over a year after the company broke the $2-trillion U.S. market capitalization mark and would make Apple as big as the world's fifth largest economy after Germany.
Shares of Apple are on pace to open above $180 U.S. today. They need to trade at $182.85 U.S. to hit the $3 trillion U.S. market capitalization level. Apple’s stock has been rallying in recent weeks as investors bet on its brand and view the shares as a safe haven investment.
Apple stock has jumped about 30% this year on top of an 80% surge in 2020. In comparison, the S&P 500 (.SPX) has risen 25% for the period.
Its peers in the trillion-dollar club - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) - have each gained between 10% and 70% this year.
Apple hit $1 trillion U.S. in market capitalization in 2018 and took two years to double that valuation. The stock has already breached Wall Street's median price target by $4, with a majority of analysts rating it a "buy."
Apple briefly lost its title as the most valuable company to Microsoft earlier this year after CEO Tim Cook's comments on supply chain woes and the struggle to procure semiconductors and components to make its smartphones and laptops.
Microsoft stock is currently about $500 billion U.S. short of reaching a $3 trillion U.S. in market capitalization.
