Apple on Monday became the first company in world history to hit the $3 trillion market capitalization milestone.
Apple’s value has tripled since 2018 as its sales continued to soar and it spent hundreds of billions of dollars on share repurchases.
Apple went public on December 12, 1980 at $22.00 per share. The stock has split five times since the IPO, so on a split-adjusted basis the IPO share price was $.10.
On the first day of trading in 2022, the company’s shares rose to $182.88 in mid-day trading, a new record.
The world’s most valuable company is the first to reach the milestone as investors bet that consumers will continue to shell out top dollar for iPhones, MacBooks and services such as Apple TV and Apple Music.
Apple’s march from $2 trillion to $3 trillion in market value took about 16 months as its stock roared higher, leading a group of megacap technology companies that benefited as people relied heavily on tech during the coronavirus pandemic.
Analysts expect demand for iPhones to remain strong in 2022, as Apple leads China’s smartphone market and more consumers subscribe its services.
By just about any measure, a $3 trillion valuation is striking. It is worth more than the value of all of the world’s cryptocurrencies. It is roughly equal to the gross domestic product of Britain or India. And it is equivalent to about six JPMorgan Chases, the biggest American bank, or 30 General Electrics.
Apple now accounts for nearly 7 percent of the total value of the S&P 500, breaking IBM’s record of 6.4 percent in 1984, according to Howard Silverblatt, an analyst who tracks valuations at S&P Dow Jones Indices. Apple alone is about 3.3 percent of the value of all global stock markets, he said…
Apple’s immense sales and wide profit margins have provided it with a stockpile of cash big enough to buy a company like UPS, Starbucks or Morgan Stanley outright. At the end of September, Apple reported $190 billion in cash and investments.
“They’ve created the greatest cash machine in history,” said Aswath Damodaran, a New York University finance professor who has studied Apple.
Yet instead of making a major acquisition, or even trying something ambitious and expensive like building multiple factories in the United States, Apple has decided to largely give its cash back to its investors by buying its own stock.
Over the past decade, Apple has purchased $488 billion of its own shares, by far the most of any company, according to an analysis by Mr. Silverblatt.
MacDailyNews Take: Merely a waypoint. Apple remains significantly undervalued. You haven’t seen anything, yet!
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Apple doesn’t innovate anymore. That’s why they have no idea what to do with their cash. An intellectually bankrupt company buys back stock.
Agreed Apple does not innovate to the same levels of intensity and frequency when Steve ran the show.
A notable exception is the amazing Apple silicon M1 chip. But the rest is ho hum since Cook took the helm.
The gold standard example is iPhone innovation under 10 years of Cook, prices highest ever and the camera got a little better every year. In 2022 the camera will have a periscope lens, wow. Minor iterations to the company cash cow is Cook’s idea of innovation.
“An intellectually bankrupt company buys back stock.”
Particularly this one. Bean counter CEO is a one trick pony. Only a creative visionary CEO will get it done…
$3 trillion is an amazing milestone. Congratulations to Tim Cook and his amazing team.
Agreed.
Where are all the imbeciles that keep saying “Fire Tim Cook” ?
As opposed to imbeciles like you that don’t understand Covid, business and how Apple works.
Steve’s worst mistake and he must be replaced…
GoeB:
You jump to the bait every time.
Have you noticed how few people here agree with you?
Is it perhaps that you were never smart enough to buy Apple stock?
Is that why you bother coming here to troll?
So you admit to consistent trolling and baiting people only to mock them, how noble.
Those of us following Apple since the beginning see what Cook is and what he is not and laughed when you mentioned stock. Inexperienced youngster on your knees in blind adulation and hero worship you don’t have and never will have a clue.
Steve’s worst mistake and he must be replaced…
GoeB, it seems that your main form of exercise is jumping to conclusions.
I’m not a youngster at all. My first Mac was a Quadra in 1995. I got into the stock 22 years ago. I don’t hero worship anybody at all and I most definitely do have a clue.
What qualifies you as being noble?
Way to go, I’m laughing all the way to the bank.
Share buybacks that result in an increase in a share’s price, when executive compensation is geared to increases in the share price, smell very fishy
With great power comes great responsibility…
MacDailyNews Take: Merely a waypoint. Apple remains significantly undervalued. You haven’t seen anything, yet!
Undervalued indeed. Too many on WallStreet are lemmings who use the WallStreet share price calculator without ever looking beyond skin deep realities of a company. If they did they’d see the undervaluing. This is why Warren Buffett made them look stupid. Once can read why he values apple so highly.
You can only lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink. MDN has been giving its readers advice to take your hard earned money and make it into more money. During this time of high inflation it is critical to be growing your money. So hopefully some listened and profited. Unfortunately the angry crowd won’t ever listen.
I won’t be happy until AAPL hits $200/share.
This was originally posted in another thread on MDN on Friday, but seems more relevant here:
2021 AAPL Stats
AAPL close, Dec. 31, 2021: $177.57
AAPL open, Jan. 4, 2021: $133.52
An increase of $44.05 or 32.99%
APPL 2021 closing low: Mar. 8, 2021, $116.36
AAPL 2021 closing high: Dec. 27, 2021, $180.33
No. of new “all-tIme” AAPL closing highs: 23
AAPL 2021 return: 32.99%
Dow Jones 2021 return: 18.73%
Nasdaq 2021 return: 26.63%
S&P 500 2021 return: 28.71%
Oh, and congratulations to Apple for hitting that $3 Trillion market cap on the first day of trading of 2022! An astounding performance. Just astounding.
Thank you to Steve, Steve, Tim, Jonny, and all the other too-many-to-mention hardworking people at Apple for insuring that my retirement will be financially secure — and then some.