Apple was the first U.S. public company to reach a $2 trillion market capitalization.
Apple crossed the $2 trillion mark during trading on August 19, 2020. The achievement came about two years after Apple became the first U.S. company to reach $1 trillion, showing how quickly the company’s valuation expanded during the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Investor confidence was supported by strong iPhone sales, expanding services revenue, wearables such as the Apple Watch and AirPods, and high profitability. Apple’s stock also benefited from a broader technology-sector rally in 2020.
This milestone is about a company’s equity value, not its annual sales. It also depends on the share count: Apple’s stock split in August 2020 changed the quoted share price without changing the company’s underlying market capitalization. Microsoft later became the second U.S. company to pass $2 trillion, in 2021.