Apple hits $4 trillion milestone ahead of earnings report after strong iPhone 17 launch

Apple hit a company milestone on Tuesday as its valuation reached $4 trillion for the first time. However, unlike previous trillion dollar milestones, Apple isn’t the first company to reach this record valuation.

Despite being the first company to hit $1 trillion in 2018, $2 trillion in 2020, and $3 trillion in 2022, Apple is third to reach $4 trillion after Nvidia and Microsoft.

Nvidia surpassed $4 trillion in July, as the AI explosion continues to rely on the company’s GPU hardware. Microsoft also hit $4 trillion for the first time in July before touching $4 trillion again today

For Apple’s part, it has a strong iPhone 17 hardware launch to thank for the timing of its $4 trillion milestone.

The company is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, which will include iPhone 17 launch week data, although Apple doesn’t break out unit sales.

Still, we’ll see quarterly iPhone revenue as an indicator of how iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 launch results compare.

Apple hasn’t yet closed with a $4 trillion valuation. After briefly touching the milestone, the stock price dipped back to the top of the $3 trillion range.

9to5Mac’s Take

While an arbitrary market capitalization number makes no material difference, these trillion dollar milestones do serve a few functions.

First, they’re clear indicators to investors that Apple has remained a growth company despite naysayers.

Second, they provide context for competitive standing. Nvidia and Microsoft may have surged to $4 trillion before Apple thanks to the AI boom, but Apple’s hardware and services businesses prove to be sustainable outside of whatever happens in AI world.

Finally, the symbolism of the milestone shows that Apple continues to be an elite company among its peers. Even if it’s not first, it’s consistent.

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