Apple has made history by becoming the first publicly traded company to close a trading day with a market capitalization of $3 trillion. The iPhone giant has flirted with the landmark valuation in the past, but failed to achieve the market at the close of trading until Friday.
TechCrunch reports that tech giant Apple has maintained its crown as the unofficial king of Silicon Valley by achieving a $3 trillion market cap — a higher value than any publicly traded company has ever achieved. Tim Cook’s company enjoyed a 2.31 percent rise in share price Friday, catapulting it to this historic milestone.
Tim Cook speaks in China ( NG HAN GUAN /Getty)
Apple CEO Tim Cook poses for a goofy selfie ( Justin Sullivan/Getty)
It hasn’t been a straight arrow up for Apple. Earlier this year the company’s value dropped below $2 trillion due to disappointing earnings. As Breitbart News previously reported:
The underwhelming earnings report was brought on by a drop in iPhone sales, which made up the majority of product revenues and totaled $65.8 billion in the quarter, down eight percent from the same time last year. During the quarter, the company made $20.8 billion from services like iCloud and Apple TV+ and $6.4 billion from products. The release of the iPhone 14 contributed to the drop in product sales, but Apple executives seemed to blame external factors. During the call, Apple CEO Tim Cook and company CFO Luca Maestri used a variation of the phrase “challenging economy” seven times.
The decline in demand for the iPhone 14 and production problems associated with the coronavirus in China put pressure on the company’s supply and significantly slowed the company’s growth. According to Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan, given that Apple is rumored to be planning to release a mixed reality headset later this year, the company’s stock could be a “tale of two halves in 2023” and that shares may rise as a result of “new product momentum.”
Despite a rough beginning to the year, Shares of Apple have rebounded 46 percent off their lows. One of the driving forces behind this surge is the recent launch of Apple’s long-rumored augmented reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro. The headset, which is priced at $3,499, requires users to remain connected to a battery pack the size of an iPhone and is slated to go on sale next year. The anticipation surrounding this product has undoubtedly contributed to Apple’s gains, even as some people mock the device as “$3,500 snowboard goggles.”
Four other U.S. companies, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia, have valuations exceeding $1 trillion. However, Apple’s recent achievement sets it apart as the leader in market capitalization.
Read more at TechCrunch here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan