On the first day of trading in 2022, the Silicon Valley
company’s shares hit a record of $182.88 around mid-day.
Reuters disclosed that the world’s most valuable company was
the first to reach the latest milestone as investors bet that consumers would
continue to shell out top dollar for iPhones, MacBooks and services such as
Apple TV and Apple Music.
“It’s a fantastic accomplishment and certainly worthy to be
celebrated,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset
Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“It just shows you how far Apple has come, and how dominant
it is seen as in the majority of investors’ eyes.”
Apple shared the $2 trillion market value club with
Microsoft Corp, which is now worth about $2.5 trillion. Alphabet, Amazon.com Inc and Tesla have market value above $1 trillion.
“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 businesses and not
speculation,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo
Investment Institute.
The rapid embrace of technologies such as 5G, virtual
reality and artificial intelligence has also helped these stocks become market
darlings as investors moved towards cash-rich companies and away from
businesses that have been more sensitive to economic growth.
Apple’s quick adoption of 5G, a technology that has broad
implications in the future, provided a big boost. It recently launched iPhone
13 in its second wave of phones with 5G technology.
In China, one of Apple’s biggest markets, it continued to
lead the smartphone market for the second straight month, beating rivals such
as Vivo and Xiaomi, recent data from CounterPoint Research showed.
Apple’s stock touched a record high of $182.88, putting its
market value just above $3 trillion, based on about 16.4 billion outstanding
shares. The shares were last up 2.4 per cent at $181.86.