Apple hits $2 trillion market cap, becomes first US-listed company to reach milestone (AAPL)

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

• Apple just became the first US-listed company to reach a $2 trillion market capitalization.
• Shares of the technology giant rose 1.2% to an all-time high of $467.84 per share on Wednesday to reach the milestone.
• Oil giant Saudi Aramco is the only other publicly listed company to ever hit a $2 trillion market value. 
• Watch Apple trade live on Markets Insider.
• Read more on Business Insider.

It’s official: Apple is the first US-listed company to reach a $2 trillion market capitalization. 

Shares of the technology giant rose 1.2% to an all-time high of $467.84 per share on Wednesday to reach the milestone.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco is the only other publicly listed company to have reached a $2 trillion market cap. It first broke the threshold in December 2019, one day after its record-setting initial public offering. 

Apple’s market value record comes with major US equity indexes at all-time highs. They’ve rallied sharply since reaching a multiyear low in March, fueled by a flood of Federal Reserve stimulus, expectations of a successful coronavirus vaccine, and hopes of a new economic relief package.

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This isn’t the first time that Apple has broken a market cap record. In August 2018, it was the first US company to reach a market value of $1 trillion. Since, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent Alphabet have also crossed the $1 trillion threshold. 

Apple has grown to a global technology giant in the decades since Steve Jobs started the company in a California garage. Since launching the iPhone, arguably its most famous product, the company has expanded to include services and wearables, which bring in billions of dollars of revenue each year. 

Even amid the coronavirus pandemic, Apple has had a strong year, surging 60% and reporting blockbuster quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street expectations. Investors have flocked to Apple and other technology giants including Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google parent Alphabet, and Microsoft as companies that are uniquely positioned to withstand the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing recession. 

In addition, the company recently announced its fifth-ever stock split in an effort to appeal to a broader base of investors. On August 24, Apple will enact a four-for-one split of its shares. 

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