Apple Inc. scripted history as the company’s market cap briefly passed $3 trillion on Monday more than a year after it surpassed the $2 trillion mark and three years after eclipsing $1 trillion.
Apple’s huge success is due in large part to the iPhone and iPad, which revolutionized the smartphone and tablet industries respectively and remain a cash cow, even today, for the company. But Apple continues to see strong momentum in its other businesses as well, with its services and Mac divisions reporting all-time highs in its Q4 2021 earnings.
Shortly after hitting the $3 trillion milestones at around 1:45 PM ET, Apple’s market cap dipped below it again. Apple’s market cap must be above the $3 trillion mark when the market closes at 4 PM ET for it to officially be designated as the first publicly-traded company with that valuation, and it ended below $3 trillion on Monday.
Apple isn’t the only company in the trillion-dollar club; Amazon, Google parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, and Tesla all have market caps exceeding $1 trillion. (Facebook parent company Meta breached the $1 trillion milestones in June but is currently sitting below it.) In recent years, Apple has also jostled with others for the crown of the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company. It passed Saudi Aramco in July 2020, though it was overtaken for a time by Microsoft in October.
