Apple became the first U.S. company to surpass a $700 billion market capitalization in 2015.
Apple crossed the $700 billion level in February 2015 after a strong rise in its share price. The milestone followed the company’s major expansion of the iPhone business and the launch of the Apple Watch. It also came after Apple’s 2014 stock split, which changed the per-share price but not the company’s total market value.
The company’s enormous valuation was based on its total equity value, not simply on the popularity of one product. Investors also considered Apple’s services, global customer base, cash generation, and ability to create an integrated hardware-and-software ecosystem.
This record preceded Apple’s later $1 trillion, $2 trillion, and $3 trillion milestones. Stock splits can make a share appear cheaper, but they do not by themselves increase market capitalization because the number of shares changes proportionally.