Apple’s 2018 share-price surge made it the first US company to reach a US$1 trillion valuation.
Apple crossed the milestone on August 2, 2018, after reporting strong quarterly results and giving investors confidence in its business. The calculation used the company’s share price and its roughly 4.83 billion shares outstanding at that time.
The iPhone remained Apple’s most important product, but the company’s valuation also reflected services and other hardware categories. Its large installed base encouraged investors to view Apple as an ecosystem rather than simply a handset maker.
Some accounts say Apple was the first company in the world to reach US$1 trillion, while others qualify the statement by noting earlier claims about non-listed or partially listed companies. The precise, widely accepted stock-market milestone is Apple as the first publicly traded company.