Apple Value Tops $3 Trillion, A First In Corporate History

Apple's shares have climbed around 5,800% since co-founder and former Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in January 2007.

Apple Inc.'s stock-market value briefly rose above $3 trillion on Monday, shattering yet another record and underscoring how the pandemic has turbocharged Big Tech's decades-long rise.

Apple shares rose as much as 3% to trade at $182.88 in afternoon trading in New York before paring some of its gains. Since a low hit in early October, Apple has added about $700 billion to its market capitalization.

The iPhone maker's share price has marched steadily higher for years, leaving it up more than 200% since Covid first sent the world into lockdown in early 2020 and underlined the centrality of technology for work, education, entertainment, and keeping connected. These are all markets that Apple touches on deeply through its hardware, software, and media services, and that has contributed to it becoming the first company in history to hit $3 trillion, roughly 17 months after it first crossed the $2 trillion mark.

Concerns have bubbled up in some corners -- about a shortage of chips, reports of iPhone demand starting to taper off and the prospect of rising interest rates -- but investors large and small have focused on the global popularity of Apple's products, the potential of new productsto maintain its steady sales growth, and the company's strong cash balance as reasons to keep buying the stock day after day.