Apple has become the first publicly traded US company to reach a market capitalisation of $1 trillion, leaving behind other tech giants, such as Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft.
After closing up nearly six per cent in the previous trading session, Apple shares climbed another 2.4 per cent on Thursday, hitting $207.05, the price needed to reach a $1 trillion market cap or total stock market value.
'Today Apple passed a significant milestone. At our closing share price of $207.39, the stock market now values Apple at more than $1 trillion. While we have much to be proud of in this achievement, it’s not the most important measure of our success. Financial returns are simply the result of Apple’s innovation, putting our products and customers first, and always staying true to our values,' said Tim Cook, Apple CEO.
And while Apple has beaten its rivals to reach that milestone, Apple is not the first to hit $1 trillion. Earlier PetroChina briefly reached $1 trillion back in 2007, although the stock soon fell below that mark.
And owing to the buoyant nature of the market, it is very much possible that Apple may not enjoy a long run of being a $1 trillion company or it could bounce back and forth over the $1 trillion mark in the coming days. Amazon is also very close to hitting the $1 trillion mark after its own positive Q3 results.
Although Apple is the first US company to reach a $1 trillion market cap, Apple watchers think the company has plenty of growth ahead.
'This is not the end, that they hit $1 trillion. I view this as just kind of speaking to a new stage of growth and profitability,' CNBC quoted GBH Insights analyst Dan Ives as saying.
The Cupertino-based iPhone maker earned $2.34 per diluted share in its fiscal third quarter, up 40 per cent from the same period in 2017, the company reported in its earnings report.
Apple posted net income of $11.5 billion on quarterly revenue of $53.3 billion, up 17 per cent from the same period last year. The tech giant, which has been aggressively buying back stock to reduce its share count and return money to shareholders, generated operating cash flow of $14.5 billion in its fiscal third quarter.
'We’re thrilled to report Apple’s best June quarter ever and our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth. Our Q3 results were driven by continued strong sales of iPhone, Services and Wearables, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline,' emphasised Cook in the earnings report.
Apple’s $1 trillion market cap can be attributed to strong iPhone line-up, services and the accessories business. The company has a proven history of creating great devices that revolutionise the market and is already laying the groundwork for the next big thing after the iPhone through its augmented reality (AR) developer kit, which lets developers create apps for the iPhone and iPad that simulate computer-generated images on top of the real world.
In the end, $1 trillion is just a number. Apple already has pieces in place to grow well beyond that.
