Apple Reaches $3 Trillion as Company Explores Virtual Reality
On Friday, 47-year-old technology giant co-founded by Steve Jobs reached $3 trillion for the second time this year based on outstanding shares – marking another achievement for Steve’s brainchild since leaving as CEO back in 2022 and also reflecting how much its share price has rallied while the S&P 500 index fell this year. This milestone serves as a reminder that Apple has come a long way since Jobs left as CEO position to mark just how far its reach extends since leaving that position to explore VR technology as well.
Apple recently achieved its latest milestone following its June 5 release of an expensive augmented-reality headset, its biggest risk since introducing the iPhone over 10 years ago. Investors were won over by an impressive track record of strong quarterly financial results as well as its reputation as an investment safe haven during times of global economic instability.
“Apple is one of the greatest publicly traded companies ever created,” commented Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities. Ives noted how its services business, which now accounts for nearly half its revenue and features new iPhone models such as 13 and 15 that could bring upgrade opportunities, had experienced a “valuation re-rating”. Together these factors were helping increase Apple’s value significantly.
Apple’s valuation has also been enhanced by its strong balance sheet, filled with cash. Over its history, the company has amassed $90 billion in cash and investments, which exceeds its total debt load. That cash gives Apple room to make bigger bets on future trends and technologies that could give its valuation a boost even when stock prices decline.
Other tech giants have reached the trillion-dollar mark recently, though getting there wasn’t easy. A stock’s market value is calculated by multiplying its share price times the number of outstanding shares; it takes time for companies to accumulate enough momentum for them to become trillion-dollar businesses like Apple has done. Other examples of companies with high market values include oil giant Saudi Aramco, Amazon and Alphabet parent Google as well as electric carmaker Tesla and chipmaker Nvidia who recently crossed it; although those firms are longerstanding investments they have yet to elicit the same excitement from investors as Apple did for investors when Apple went public in July 2007.