Apple became the first company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization while its shares traded on the Nasdaq in 2018.
Apple crossed the trillion-dollar threshold on August 2, 2018. Its shares traded on Nasdaq, the electronic U.S. stock exchange strongly associated with technology companies. The milestone made Apple a landmark example of how a listed company’s share price and share count combine into a market valuation.
Apple’s presence on Nasdaq dates to its public listing in 1980. The exchange also lists other major technology companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Nvidia. Being listed on Nasdaq does not itself determine a company’s market capitalization; it simply identifies the marketplace where its shares trade.
Investors often compare market capitalization with enterprise value, which also considers debt and cash. These measures answer different questions, so a company’s ranking can vary depending on the valuation method used.