Trillion–dollar company

Market responds to record earnings

Apple is the first in the US to reach the milestone.

Apple has become the first publicly-listed American company ever to reach a value of one trillion dollars. At the time of writing it’s still up there, way ahead of all others — Amazon is nearest at $872 billion, followed by Google’s parent company Alphabet ($844bn) and Microsoft ($816bn).

A company’s market capitalization value is calculated simply by multiplying its share price by the number of its shares in circulation. Apple reached a market cap of one trillion dollars in August, following the release of its June quarter financial figures. Apple CEO Tim Cook described it as “Apple’s best June quarter ever, and our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth.”

Cook did not comment publicly on the company’s market valuation but in a memo to Apple employees called it “a significant milestone.” However, he added: “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.”

That said, the company’s financial standing is an index of the success of its products in the marketplace, and that’s significant not just for shareholders. (It’s also a measure of how far Apple has come in 20 years: Before it released the original iMac in August 1998, there was some doubt whether the company would survive.)

Apple’s revenue in the quarter ending June 30 exceeded $53.3 billion, the highest figure ever for its June quarter and way ahead of market expectations. However, things are a bit more complex underneath...