Apple becomes the first public company to be valued at USD 3 trillion

Apple became the first publicly traded company to close a trading day with a USD 3 trillion market value, marking another milestone for a technology juggernaut that has reshaped society with a line-up of products that churn out eye-popping profits.

Apple shares closed up 2.3 per cent at USD 193.97 Friday, bringing its market value to USD 3.04 trillion.

Apple is one of a handful of technology companies, including Microsoft and chipmaker Nvidia, that helped drive the S&P 500 to a gain of nearly 16 per cent in the first half of the year.

The 47-year-old company co-founded by Silicon Valley legend Steve Jobs had briefly eclipsed a USD 3 trillion market value on back-to-back days in January 2022, but couldn't hold on by the time the market closed.

Instead, Apple's stock sunk into a prolonged descent that pushed its market value briefly below USD2 trillion earlier this year amid a slowdown in growth and investor jitters about rising interest rates that affected the entire tech sector.

Apple didn't come close to the USD 3 trillion threshold again until earlier this month when the company unveiled what could be its next big product — a high-priced headset called Vision Pro that thrusts users into artificial settings known as virtual reality.

Although the significance of reaching a USD 3 trillion market value is largely symbolic, its magnitude is still breathtaking.