Apple became the first U.S. public company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization in 2018.
Its share price crossed the threshold on August 2, 2018, as investors valued the company at roughly one trillion dollars. The milestone reflected the commercial strength of the iPhone, alongside growing services revenue from products such as the App Store and iCloud.
The wording matters because PetroChina briefly reached a similar valuation in 2007 during its Shanghai debut. Apple was the first U.S.-based company to achieve the landmark on a sustained, widely reported basis. Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet later joined the trillion-dollar group.
Market capitalization is calculated by multiplying a company’s share price by its outstanding shares. It can change every trading day, so rankings and thresholds are snapshots rather than permanent labels.