Stock surge pushes Apple past trillion-dollar mark

Apple has become the first US company in history to be valued at $1trn (£770bn) as the company’s share prices hit a record high.

The California-based tech firm has seen its stock values rise by 9% since Tuesday to hit $207.39 (£159.37) yesterday, Sky News reports.

The surge followed Apple’s announcement of its sales results for the third quarter, which “exceeded Wall Street’s expectations”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The company made profits of $11.5bn (£8.8bn) and revenues of $53.3bn (£40.6bn) in the three months until 30 June. This marked a year-on-year 32% increase in profits and a 17% rise in revenue.

Much of the company’s recent success can be attributed to the iPhone, according to the BBC. The broadcaster reports that Apple’s shares have soared by 1,100% since the smartphone launched in 2007.

The development of the iPhone has been overseen by CEO Tim Cook, who took over after Apple's influential co-founder Steve Jobs died in 2011. At that time, the company was valued at $624bn (£480bn).

Although Apple has cemented its position as the highest-valued US-based company, it remains to be seen whether the tech giant can also take the top spot in the world rankings.

In 2007, Chinese government-controlled petrol giant PetroChina was listed as the world’s first firm to top the $1trn mark, but The Guardian says its “valuation is considered unreliable because only 2% of the company was released for public trading”.

Saudi Arabian oil firm Saudi Aramco could end up with a valuation of up to $2trn (£1.54trn) if plans go ahead to float the company on the stock market, the newspaper adds.