Apple first publicly traded US firm to hit $1 trillion market cap
APPLE hit a $1 trillion market cap yesterday, making the iPhone maker the first publicly traded US company to reach the record valuation.
But it isn’t the first company to claim the $1 trillion title. In 2007, WSJ notes, PetroChina‘s market cap surpassed that level and Saudi Arabian Oil, the stateowned oil company in an initial public offering, that later stalled, was valued at as much as $2 trillion.
The stock rose nearly 3 percent following a strong third-quarter earnings report earlier this week, briefly hitting a session high of $207,05 in midday trading before falling back below $207.
Based on a recently adjusted outstanding share count of 4 829 926 000 shares, a stock price of $207,05 nudged Apple over the finish line in the race to one trillion. Investors had previously been looking for a share price of $203,45, but the company’s hefty stock buybacks moved the threshold higher.
“I think it just speaks to just how powerful the Apple ecosystem has become over the last few decades,” GBH Insights analyst Dan Ives told CNBC after the historic market move. “This is not the end, that they hit $1 trillion. I view this as just kind of speaking to a new a stage of growth and profitability.”
Ives credited the company’s growing software and services revenue with driving the valuation. The catch-all category — which includes the App Store, AppleCare, Apple Pay, iTunes and cloud services — posted record quarterly revenue of $9,55 billion for the June quarter.
“It just speaks to the vision that (co-founder Steve Jobs) and now (CEO Tim Cook) have had in making sure Apple isn’t just a hardware company,” Ives said.
Amazon had also been approaching the threshold, surpassing $900 billion in market value in July. Apple had quite the head start, though, hitting $900 billion back in November.
Many on Wall Street noted earlier this week Apple was firmly on the path to $1 trillion. The so-called “dean of valuation” said the stock is still cheap even at $1 trillion. — CNBC.
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