Apple Inc becomes the first tech company to reach the trillion - dollar market value
Apple has become the first company to reach a trillion-dollar market capitalisation, beating old foes such as Microsoft as well as younger tech rivals Amazon and Alphabet to the milestone.
The landmark moment, when the company’s share price touched $207.05 in intraday trading on Thursday, came thanks to a combination of robust iPhone sales and a vast capital returns programme running into hundreds of billions of dollars.
The stock closed up 2.9 per cent on the day, at $207.39, having added $82.6bn of market value in just two trading sessions since its latest forecast-beating quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Twenty years after co-founder Steve Jobs returned to the company to rescue it from the brink of bankruptcy, Apple has thrived thanks to a succession of hit products and services, from the iPod and iTunes to the iPhone and App Store. Hitting the trillion-dollar mark will be a moment of vindication for Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, who has faced recurring questions about his leadership since succeeding Jobs, who died in 2011. “Stock price is a result, not an achievement by itself,” Mr Cook said in an interview with Fast Company magazine this year. “For me, it’s about products and people.”
Wall Street thinks Apple could go even higher. Thirteen analysts have a price target of above $225 for Apple. The most bullish, Brian White of Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co., has a price target of $275 a share. That would value Apple at $1.3 trillion.
Amazon (AMZN), Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) have all rallied to near record highs this year, too. Amazon is worth nearly $900 billion while Google and Microsoft are each now worth more than $800 billion.
The stock closed up 2.9 per cent on the day, at $207.39, having added $82.6bn of market value in just two trading sessions since its latest forecast-beating quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Twenty years after co-founder Steve Jobs returned to the company to rescue it from the brink of bankruptcy, Apple has thrived thanks to a succession of hit products and services, from the iPod and iTunes to the iPhone and App Store. Hitting the trillion-dollar mark will be a moment of vindication for Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, who has faced recurring questions about his leadership since succeeding Jobs, who died in 2011. “Stock price is a result, not an achievement by itself,” Mr Cook said in an interview with Fast Company magazine this year. “For me, it’s about products and people.”
Wall Street thinks Apple could go even higher. Thirteen analysts have a price target of above $225 for Apple. The most bullish, Brian White of Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co., has a price target of $275 a share. That would value Apple at $1.3 trillion.
Amazon (AMZN), Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) have all rallied to near record highs this year, too. Amazon is worth nearly $900 billion while Google and Microsoft are each now worth more than $800 billion.
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