Apple Hitting the $3 Trillion Market Cap is a ‘Watershed Event for Big Tech’
Apple hit a $3 trillion market cap — albeit briefly — on Jan. 3, the first time ever a public company has achieved this milestone.
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The New York Times reports that in August 2018, Apple became the first American company ever to be worth $1 trillion, an achievement that took 42 years. It surged past $2 trillion two years later. Its next trillion took just 16 months and 15 days.
“Apple just hit $3 trillion market cap intraday which we view as another watershed event for Cupertino and Big Tech. Being the first company to join the $3 trillion club is a “flex the muscles moment” for Cook & Co. as the valuation re-rating continues into 2022 despite Fed jitters,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a note sent to GOBankingRates.
Ives said that the valuation re-rating has been driven by the services business which he views as worth $1.5 trillion on a standalone basis, coupled by its flagship hardware ecosystem which is in the midst of its strongest product cycle in over a decade led by iPhone 13.
“Hitting $3 trillion is another historical moment for Apple as the company continues to prove the doubters wrong with the renaissance of growth story playing out in Cupertino,” Ives added.
Wedbush said it maintained its “Outperform” rating and a $200 price target, with a bull case of $225.
To put Apple’s valuation in context, the company is worth more than Walmart, Disney, Netflix, Nike, Exxon Mobil, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Morgan Stanley, McDonald’s, AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Boeing, IBM and Ford combined, according to The New York Times. Or as Forbes puts it, Apple’s value is greater than the $2.76 trillion GDP of the United Kingdom but still short of the $3.85 trillion GDP of Germany, according to World Bank data.
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Microsoft, which was up 58% in 2021, is the No. 2 company by market value with a recent market cap of $2.57 trillion and the only other one above $2 trillion. Just three other stocks– Alphabet, Amazon and Tesla have valuations above $1 trillion, according to Barron’s.
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