Apple becomes first U.S. company worth $3 trillion

 
INA – SOURCES
 
On the first trading day of 2022, Apple marked a new milestone: it became the first U.S. company to reach a market value of $3 trillion. 
 
Apple's shares briefly touched a record $182.88 per share in Monday's trading. At that price, the iPhone maker's value topped $3 trillion. In early afternoon trading, the shares slipped from the intra-day high, putting its value at just below that mark. 
 
The milestone is even more notable given that it was less than four years ago that Apple topped $1 trillion in value in 2018. And in August 2020, Apple cracked $2 trillion, powered by its steady expansion into a range of services as CEO Tim Cook sought to reduce the company's reliance on iPhones, iPads and other devices for growth.
 
Now Apple's services business — including original shows, music, cloud storage and fitness apps — is worth fully half the company, about $1.5 trillion, said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
 
"Hitting $3 trillion is another historical moment for Apple as the company continues to prove the doubters wrong," Ives said in a note to investors Monday.
 
"The linchpin to Apple's valuation re-rating remains its Services business which we believe is worth $1.5 trillion in the eyes of the Street, coupled by its flagship hardware ecosystem which is in the midst of its strongest product cycle in over a decade led by iPhone 13," he wrote.
 
To put Apple's value in perspective, a market capitalization of $3 trillion places the company's market cap roughly on par with the gross domestic product of the United Kingdom. It also exceeds the GDP of countries including India ($2.9 trillion), France ($2.9 trillion) and Russia ($1.6 trillion).