NEWS

Apple became the first $1 trillion publicly traded company shortly before noon Thursday, briefly crossing the lofty mark in a closely watched ascent that made stock market history.

“Apple’s $1 trillion cap is equal to about 5 percent of the total gross domestic product of the United States in 2018,” said David Kass, professor of finance at the University of Maryland. “That puts this company in perspective.”

Apple closed Thursday above the $1 trillion mark, finishing the day up 2.92 percent at a share price of $207.39. The price gave the stock a market value of $1,001,678,000,000 — or $1.002 trillion rounded up.

Apple first crossed the threshold in Thursday trading following a strong third-quarter report that showed earnings beat expectations and also showed increased revenue from the technology giant’s services and software businesses.

Wall Street loved it. Apple climbed nearly 9 percent following the earnings report.

“The combination of a strong macro environment and an increasingly engaged customer base led to double-digit growth in all regions,” Morgan Stanley said in a note, according to CNBC. “A clean beat on the path to $1 trillion.”

Apple on Wednesday stated in a regulatory filing that as of July 20, 2018, the company had 4,829,926,000 shares, said Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst with S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Based on that number, Apple needed a $207.05 price to reach $1 trillion in market value, Silverblatt said. If the company continues to buy back its shares, the $207.05 price will rise. In calculating market cap, S&P uses the most recent number of shares trading multiplied by the stock price.

“These are the actual shares outstanding able to trade, even though some may be held by insiders, interlocks or others,” Silverblatt said.