Apple becomes first U.S. company to reach a $2 trillion market cap
Apple hit a market cap of $2 trillion Wednesday, doubling in valuation in just over two years to become the first publicly traded U.S. company to reach the milestone.
Based on a share count of more than 4.275 billion, Apple broke the barrier just before 11 a.m. ET, when its price rose to $467.77.
Apple first reached a $1 trillion market cap on Aug. 2, 2018. Wall Street has largely expected Apple to be the first to surpass the $2 trillion mark. On July 31, Apple surpassed 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 to match Apple’s $1 trillion market cap. Today, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet all have market caps above $1 trillion.
Apple shares are up about 60% year-to-date, pushing through the pandemic that’s battered many companies. In the past year, shares have risen more than 120%.
The company posted a historically strong third quarter late July, including $59.7 billion in revenue and double-digit growth in its products and services segments. Apple saw widespread retail closures during the quarter, especially in the United States, but touted both work-from-home trends and strong online sales as delivering a boost to overall operations.
While the mark is largely symbolic, it does underscore Apple 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 PE ratio, which is now over 33.
