Amazon surpassed a $1 trillion market capitalization in 2018 after Apple became the first.
Amazon crossed the threshold in September 2018, roughly one month after Apple reached the milestone. Investors valued Amazon not only as an online retailer but also for its rapidly expanding cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services, and its growing advertising and subscription businesses.
The company began as an online bookstore in 1994 and gradually expanded into a broad marketplace and technology group. That long-term expansion helps explain why its market value grew far beyond the size initially associated with book sales.
Market capitalization can differ from a company’s revenue or profit. Amazon’s trillion-dollar valuation reflected anticipated future cash flows and growth, as well as its existing operations.