Apple
U.S. Tech giant Apple Inc has made world history as the first
private company in the world to record a market valuation of $1 trillion
and even surpass the milestone.
PetroChina owned by the Chinese government briefly broke the $1
trillion barrier in 2007 during its initial public offering, but has
since dropped back down.
Apple attained its unprecedented feat Thursday following its latest surge after reporting strong quarterly earnings.
Shares of Apple briefly hit $207.05 in late-morning trading, before
retreating somewhat. The gains came after the iPhone maker reported
strong earnings late Tuesday that prompted a two-day rally in the share
price.
The company’s stock was at $206.85, up 2.7 percent near 1620 GMT. Apple said it currently has 4.83 billion shares outstanding.
As with other landmarks — such as the Dow crossing 25,000 for the
first time — the Apple record is significant because of its resonance
beyond the financial universe.
“The $1 trillion mark is more psychological, and sends a message of growth and size into the market,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
But many financial insiders view the record as a non-event, despite breaching the psychological barrier.
“There’s no real excitement on the trading desk,” said Karl Haeling of LBBW.
“It’s one of those things that does not mean anything by itself… it’s
more a testimony of the importance of Apple on the market.”
The landmark is the latest victory for Apple chief executive Tim
Cook, who faced skepticism when he took reins of the iconic technology
giant in 2011.
He took over after the death of founder Steve Jobs, who was
identified with launching many of Apple’s most iconic products,
including the iPhone smartphone and the iPad tablet.
But Cook has gradually won accolades from investors by pumping out a
series of solid financial results and further spreading Apple’s
products to China and other foreign markets.
On Tuesday, Apple reported that net profit jumped more than 30
percent to $11.5 billion. Revenue in the fiscal third quarter soared 17
percent to $53.3 billion from the same period a year earlier due to
sales of pricier iPhones, online services and wearable devices.
The record also cements the continued supremacy of US technology
companies to the broader market, with other large technology giants
Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook regularly
rounding out the top five in market.
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