WHAT A HIT !

Apple Becomes World's First $3 trillion Company 

    Apple Inc became the first company to head a $3 trillion stock market value before ending the day hair below the milestone, as investors bet the iPhone maker will keep launching best-selling products as it explores new markets such as automated cars and virtual reality. The milestone is mostly symbolic but it shows investors remain bullish on Apple stock and its ability to grow. Apple tripled its valuation in under four years. And analysts see plenty of room to run.

     On the first day of trading in 2022, the Silicon Valley company's shares hit an intraday record high of $182.88, putting Apple's market value just about $3 trillion. The stock ended the session up 2.5 % at $182.01 with Apple's market capitalisation at $2.99 trillion Microsoft (MSFT), which rallied 58% in 2021, is the No.2 company by market value with a market value with a recent market cap of $2.57 trillion and the only other one above $2 trillion. Just three other stocks - Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com ( AMZN),and Tesla (TSLA) - have valuations above $1 trillion.

    Apple's huge success is due in large part to the iPhone, which revolutionized the smartphone industry and remains a cash cow for the company. But 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.

    The iPhone makers share price has marched steadily higher for years, living it up more than 200% since covid first sent the world into lockdown in early 2020 and underlined the centrality of technology for work, education, entertainment, and keeping connected. These are all markets that Apple touches on deeply through its hardware, software, and media services, and that has contributed to it becoming the first company in history to hit $3 trillion, roughly 17 months after it was crossed the $2 trillion mark.

    Finally, Wall Street has begun to factor in two yet-to-be-announced new product categories - augmented-and virtual-reality headsets and autonomous vehicles - to its Apple financial and valuation models. The market is rewarding companies that have strong fundamentals and balance sheets, and the companies that are hitting these sort of huge market caps have proven they are strong business and not speculation.