Apple was the first company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization during the 2018 financial year.
On August 2, 2018, Apple’s share price rose after the company reported strong quarterly results, including robust iPhone sales and growth in its services business. The resulting valuation briefly exceeded $1 trillion, making Apple the first publicly traded U.S. company to achieve that figure.
Apple’s market value was helped by its practice of returning cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Buybacks reduce the number of shares outstanding, which can affect the share price and the market-cap calculation.
The milestone is often confused with revenue or cash holdings. Market capitalization represents what investors collectively value the company’s equity at, based on the current share price multiplied by shares outstanding.