Apple’s (AAPL) market valuation hit $3 trillion on Friday, making it the first publicly traded company to touch the milestone twice. The company’s market cap closed above $3 trillion Friday for the first time ever, as shares ended the day up 2.31% at $193.97.
The iPhone maker originally eclipsed the $3 trillion mark in Jan. 2022.
The milestone comes after a rip-roaring first half of 2023 for tech stocks, which has seen the Nasdaq rise 30% while Apple stock has gained more than 45%.
Wall Street and Silicon Valley are all in on the generative AI hype wave that kicked off with the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in Nov. 2022. But while companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG, GOOGL), and Nvidia (NVDA) can point to their work in AI for at least partially buoying their share prices, Apple has largely stayed away from any mention of AI.
Instead, the company’s biggest achievements have come via its ability to navigate the supply chain crisis caused by COVID lockdowns in China and the resilience of its iPhone business—and the promise of diving into new the AR/VR headset market with its Vision Pro.
“This is ultimately a safe haven type of company for investors no matter the macroeconomy you’re in,” CFRA vice president and technology equity analyst Angelo Zino told Yahoo Finance Live “It’s a name we continue to live and a name we continue to tell investors, ‘Don’t necessarily trade, it’s a name you want to be investing in for the long term.'”
Apple, like other tech companies, faces difficult comparisons over the last few earnings seasons as it digested the massive pull forward in sales of iPhones, Mac computers, and iPads during the pandemic.
And while Mac and iPad revenue in the latest quarter was lower than in the same period of 2022, iPhone sales jumped year-over-year.
