Apple was the first publicly traded company to reach a $3 trillion market capitalization on a closing basis.
Apple ended a trading session above $3 trillion in June 2023, after briefly touching the level intraday in January 2022. Using the closing price avoids treating a momentary trading spike as a full-session valuation milestone.
The company’s market value was supported by sales of iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watches, and services. Investors also valued Apple’s brand, global distribution, customer loyalty, and ability to generate large amounts of cash.
Market capitalization is not the same as annual revenue, profit, or the amount of cash a company owns. It is the market’s current value of all outstanding shares. Consequently, a company can gain or lose hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization without making an equivalent amount of money that day.