Apple is now the world’s first company with a trillion dollar valuation. In pure numbers, this means the combined shares of Apple are now worth $1,000,000,000,000 (that’s 12 zeros!).
While Apple’s own Stock app, which sources data from Yahoo, showed the company reaching the trillion figure mark at around $204, the information was incorrect as it did not account for buybacks and retired shares. It is only when Apple shares reached $207 that the company’s valuation hit the magical $1 trillion dollar mark.
If you don’t know much about market cap, it essentially is the number of shares issued by the company multiplied by the current stock price. Since Apple is currently buying back its shares, it is difficult to ascertain its exact market share.
Apple becoming a trillion dollar company is just a number and it is not going to have any effect on Apple’s profit, market share, or just about any other metric which actually matters. But yes, to get there, Apple has ensured that it has consistently launched great products over the years with great customer satisfaction rate for all its products being the key.
After Apple, Amazon is the next company that seems poised to reach the trillion dollar mark. It is currently valued at around $870 billion followed closely by Google’s parent company Alphabet at $845 billion. Given the gap between the valuation of these companies and that of Apple, it will probably take them a few more months to reach the magical $1 trillion mark though.
Update: Tim Cook has shared an internal memo with Apple employees on the occasion of the company reaching the trillion dollar valuation where he says that while this is a “significant milestone,” it is not the “most important measure of success” for the company.
Team,
Today Apple passed a significant milestone. At our closing share price of $207.39, the stock market now values Apple at more than $1 trillion. While we have much to be proud of in this achievement, it’s not the most important measure of our success. Financial returns are simply the result of Apple’s innovation, putting our products and customers first, and always staying true to our values.
It’s you, our team, that makes Apple great and our success is due to your hard work, dedication and passion. I am deeply humbled by what you do, and it’s the privilege of a lifetime to work alongside you. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the late hours and extra trips, all the times you refuse to settle for anything less than excellence in our work together.
Let’s take this moment to thank our customers, our suppliers and business partners, the Apple developer community, our coworkers and all those who came before us at this remarkable company.
Steve founded Apple on the belief that the power of human creativity can solve even the biggest challenges — and that the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. In today’s world, our mission is more important than ever. Our products not only create moments of surprise and delight, they empower people all around the globe to enrich their lives and the lives of others.
Just as Steve always did in moments like this, we should all look forward to Apple’s bright future and the great work we’ll do together.
Tim
