Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. business valued at $700 billion.
Apple reached the milestone in February 2015 as its share price rose after years of strong iPhone sales and expanding investor confidence. At the time, the valuation was roughly twice the market capitalization of the next-largest U.S. company, making the achievement especially notable in American stock-market history.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, released in 2014, helped drive a major sales cycle. Apple was also returning substantial amounts of money to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, which can affect the number of shares outstanding and the calculation of market capitalization.
The $700 billion figure was a market value, not a cash balance. It was calculated from Apple’s share price and shares outstanding, and it changed as trading continued. Apple later passed $1 trillion and $2 trillion at new milestones.