Apple marks new milestone by becoming first US company to hit $3 trillion market value

On the first trading day of 2022, Apple achieved a new milestone by becoming the first US company to ever reach a market value of $3 trillion. According to CNBC, Apple’s shares on Monday’s trading briefly touched a record $182.88 per share. At this price, the value of the computer company - that started in a California garage in 1976 - topped $3 trillion. This milestone is more notable as Apple, back in 2018, had become the first American firm ever to be worth $1 trillion, which then surged past $2 trillion two years later. Its next trillion just took another 16 months and 15 days. 

Now, Apple is worth more than combined Walmart Disney, Netflix, Nike, Exxon Mobil, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Morgan Stanley, McDonald’s, AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Boeing, IBM and Ford. Its services business, including original shows, music, cloud storage and fitness apps, is worth fully half the company, about $1.5 trillion, according to CNBC. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said that Apple hitting $3 trillion is another “historical moment” as the company continues to prove that “doubters wrong”. 

Apple's net worth now more than value of world's cryptocurrencies

The New York Times reported that Apple is now worth more than the value of all the world’s cryptocurrencies. It is roughly even equal to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Britain or India. Apple’s $3 trillion valuations are even equivalent to about six JPMorgan Chases, the biggest American bank, or 30 General Electrics. 

The iPhone maker now accounts for near 7% of the total value of the S&P 500, breaking IBM’s record of 6.4% in 1984. Analysts believe that behind Apple’s ascent is its tight grip on consumers, an economy that has favoured its business and sock. The COVID-19 pandemic also sent sales of other Apple devices soaring, as people used them more to work, study and socialise, and sent investors fleeing to the safety of Apple’s stock in an increasingly uncertain global economy.

“When we started, we thought it would be a successful company that would go forever. But you don’t really envision this,” said Steve Wozniak, the engineer who founded Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976. According to NY Times, Wozniak added, “At the time, the amount of memory that would hold one song cost $1 million.”

(Image:AP)