Apple nears $3 trillion market valuation as success-streak continues

Apple's market value hovered just shy of the $3 trillion mark on Monday, following a stunning run over the past decade that has turned it into the world's most valuable company.

Apple Inc’s market value hovered just shy of the $3 trillion mark on Monday, following a stunning run over the past decade that has turned it into the world’s most valuable company.

The stock needs to reach $182.86 to record $3 trillion in market value, but was down about one per cent in afternoon trading after hitting a record high earlier in the day. It rose about 11 per cent last week, extending its more than 30 per cent gain for the year as investors remain confident that flush consumers will continue to pay top dollar for iPhones, MacBooks and services such as Apple TV and Apple Music.

The iPhone maker’s march from $2 trillion to near $3 trillion in market value took just 16 months, as it led a group of megacap tech companies such as Google-parent Alphabet and Amazon.com Inc that benefited from people and businesses relying heavily on technology during the pandemic.

In comparison, Apple’s move to $2 trillion from $1 trillion took two years.

“It’s now one of the more richly valued companies in the market, which shows the dominance of U.S. technology in the world and how confident investors are that it will remain in Apple’s hands,” said Brian Frank, a portfolio manager at Frank Capital who sold his long-standing position in Apple in 2019 as the stock’s valuation rose. “It seems like the stock has priced in every possible good outcome.”

Eclipsing the $3 trillion milestone would add another feather in the cap for Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over after Steve Jobs resigned in 2011 and oversaw the company’s expansion into new products and markets.

“Tim Cook has done an amazing job over the past decade, taking Apple’s share price up over 1,400 per cent,” OANDA analyst Edward Moya said.

Apple shares have returned 22 per cent per year since the 1990s, while the S&P 500 has returned less than nine per cent annually in the same period.