Apple hit a market cap of $2 trillion Wednesday, doubling in valuation in only over two years to become the primary publicly traded U.S. company to succeed in the milestone.
Based on a share count of quite 4.275 billion, Apple broke the barrier just before 11 a.m. ET, when its price rose to $467.77. However, Apple fell below the $2 trillion marks because the day moved on, and shares closed at $462.83, giving it a market cap of about $1.98 trillion.
Apple first reached a $1 trillion market cap on Aug. 2, 2018. Wall Street has largely expected the iPhone maker to become the primary to surpass $2 trillion. On July 31, Apple passed the state oil giant Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most precious publicly-traded company.
It didn’t take long for other tech giants Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet to match Apple’s $1 trillion market cap.
Apple shares are up about 60% year so far, pushing through the coronavirus pandemic that has battered many companies. within the past year, shares have risen quite 120%.
While the mark is essentially symbolic, it does underscore CEO Tim Cook’s success at changing the company’s story. Apple’s business less like other hardware makers and more sort of a software company, as indicated by Apple’s quickly rising price-earnings ratio, which is now over 33.
