Apple Becomes First US$2 Trillion American Company

Apple became the first publicly listed US company with a US$2 trillion stock market value on Wednesday, as Wall Street investors put aside challenges to its iPhone ecosystem in favour of bets it will only prosper more in the post-coronavirus world.

Shares in the company have surged since blowout quarterly results in July that saw the iPhone maker eclipse Saudi Aramco as the world's most valuable listed company, up about 57 percent in value so far in 2020.

The moves reflect growing investor confidence in Apple's shift towards relying less on sales of iPhones and other gadgets and more on services for its users, as well as a broad shift by big institutional investors during the coronavirus crisis.

With Amazon, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet, all now worth around US$1 trillion or more, the big US tech companies are together worth more than US$6 trillion.

Cupertino, California-based Apple surprised Wall Street as it was able to get loyal shoppers to buy iPhones, iPads and Macs online even as several brick-and-mortar stores remained closed due to the coronavirus lockdowns.

Apple's revenue grew across every category and all of its geographical regions in the June quarter, even as the coronavirus crisis caused the US economy to collapse at its worst rate since the Great Depression.

Started in the garage of co-founder Steve Jobs in 1976, Apple has pushed its revenue beyond the economic outputs of Portugal, Peru and other countries.

Apple's shares rose as much as 1.4 percent at US$468.63 on Wednesday. (Reuters)